To deepen the cultural exchange under the Belt and Road Initiative and empower the mental health development of international students in China, our university's "Heart Road Companions" volunteer team initiated the "Silk Road Heart Bridge·Walking Together" cross-cultural psychological support program for Belt and Road international students. On March 28th, over 10 international students from Laos, Vietnam and other Belt and Road countries joined our students in a psychological themed activity - "Mandala: The Soul's Dance Beyond Language", using art therapy to build a "heart bridge" for cross-cultural understanding.
The activity focused on the innovative practice of "artistic expression transcending language", deeply integrating the therapeutic function of mandala painting with cross-cultural scenarios. Guided by professional psychological counselors, Chinese and international students created artworks around three themes: "Emotional Colors", "Self-Exploration" and "Cultural Bonds", exploring inner selves, integrating emotional energy and conveying peer support through color expression. At the event, students' phone screens displayed real-time translations between Chinese, Vietnamese and Lao, the air was filled with short phrases mixing Chinese and English, while the canvases presented visual languages needing no translation. Our student Cheng Yucong incorporated Sui-Tang dynasty floral patterns in her painting. Lao student Yueji blended traditional sinh skirt patterns into peacock-blue swirls. Vietnamese student Nguyen Dan Tuan Anh repeatedly depicted Dong Son bronze drum motifs. Psychological counselors guided students to view bronze drums and sinh skirts as "psychological containers connecting homeland and foreign land", helping reconstruct cross-cultural identity cognition.
By blending their national traditions with mandala art through painting, students not only attempted psychological adaptation in cross-cultural environments but also created vivid examples of civilization mutual learning under the Belt and Road Initiative. This practice of activating cultural genes and reconstructing psychological landscapes through art provides innovative paradigms for international student mental health services.
