Food sharing and commensality play an important role in the social lives of international students. This website focuses on how Chinese students in the UK build and maintain friendships through food practices, exploring the unique mediating role that food plays in this process. Users can find other international students nearby who are looking to make friends, and use food as an "icebreaker tool" to start conversations. The story map below helps you find people nearby.
This video focuses on how, during the first three months after arriving in Leeds, UK, a Chinese international student gradually transitioned from a lonely 'loner' to integrating into a social circle of fellow Chinese students through food interactions with her Chinese roommates.
Lantern Festival marks the first full moon night of the Lunar New Year. It symbolises reunion, togetherness, and the end of the New Year celebrations. The traditional food for this festival is tangyuan – sweet glutinous rice balls with different fillings. For Chinese students studying abroad, Lantern Festival can be a particularly lonely time. Unlike Christmas or New Year's Eve, it often passes unnoticed in the UK. There are no public celebrations, no days off, and for many, no family around. This makes it the perfect opportunity to bring a small group of Chinese students together – not just to eat tangyuan, but to share stories, remember home, and build friendships through a shared sense of cultural belonging.