The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in many parts of the world, including Hungary, where growing interest in China is bringing students closer to its language and culture.

At Széchenyi István University, Hungarian and Chinese students gathered to celebrate with food, music, lanterns and traditional mooncakes. For Wang Tianyi, a student from China, the celebration also offered a sense of home.

He said: "I miss my home. But today it's very nice because I have my Hungarian people, Hungarian friends and Chinese friends and other countries' friends. We meet here, we celebrate."

The festival is one of China's most cherished traditions. It celebrates the harvest and brings families together under a full moon. Mooncakes are shared as part of the celebration.

For Wang, the festival was also a chance to share those traditions with his Hungarian friends and other students at the university.

For Hungarian students, the event offered a chance to learn more about China. Nelli Sárvári became interested in Chinese after traveling to the country through a university program.

According to Sárvári: "I had an opportunity to travel to China with the university, with a program. And I met the language there, and I had an opportunity to study the basics there. So I wanted to continue this studying. And I applied to the lessons here."

That interest is also reaching the classroom. The university's Confucius Institute received more than 130 applications for Chinese language classes, with 16 groups starting in September.

This demand shows that more students are willing to explore Chinese language and culture. For some, learning Chinese is also a way to understand a country they once knew from a distance.

Réka Orosz-Barczi, the Hungarian director of the Confucius Institute, said the language continues to attract interest.

"The Chinese language in Hungary is still a very unique language for us," explained Orosz-Barczi. "It's a very interesting language. And there are not so many people who understand Chinese culture, the language, but everyone, like many people, are interested in, like how the characters are written, how they speak. And, we could see through this cultural event that there would be a demand also for learning the language."

Sárvári has now visited China twice. She said learning the language has also given her a chance to meet Chinese students and teachers.

"I think it's crucial because you can get to know Chinese people, Chinese students and teachers, so they can tell you more about the Chinese history," she declared.

The Mid-Autumn Festival gives students a chance to build those connections outside the classroom. They share food, learn about traditions and exchange stories about their cultures.

For Wang, Hungary has become a place where he can build new friendships while keeping a connection to home. For Sárvári, learning Chinese has opened a door to a country she wants to understand better.

The celebration shows how language and culture can create connections between people. Under the same moon, students in Győr are finding new ways to learn from one another.