The Curtain Raises on the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Competition, Family Culture is an Ongoing Theme of the Competition

A characteristically Chinese pop song with the sound of the traditional instrument the guqin, entitled the Culture of Dragon performed by the American “Happy Boy” Martin and Chinese “Happy Girl” Yu Kewei began the proceedings for the semi-finals and finals of the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students. On the evening of July 15th, 107 candidates from over 100 well-known universities in 62 countries embarked upon the annual Chinese proficiency contest. The photo shows French candidate Aventurina King performing Chinese opera. Photo by Fu Yu, China News

Changsha, July 16th (Yang kaiqi, China News) – an arts performance for the opening ceremony of the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held in Changsha on the evening of July 15th. The “Chinese Bridge” Competition is sponsored by Hanban. 107 candidates from 62 countries that were on show at the opening ceremony have embarked upon the 5-week semi-finals and finals competition. Chinese “Family culture” is a common thread running throughout the competition as its theme.

In keeping with the concept “a family is a small world and the world is a big family”, the performance of national and international artists bridged the gulf between Chinese and western culture, combining traditional Chinese performances of song and dance, opera, cross-talk with contemporary elements. Amongst the performances, the story of the education of the first foreign professional Peking opera actor, Ishiyama Yuta, was a symbol of foreign friends’ spirit in the pursuit of Chinese culture. The performance lifted the atmosphere of the show to a climax.

On behalf of all the candidates, Russian candidate Wang Xiaoni (Chinese name) made a speech for the opening ceremony. She revealed how candidates were deeply impressed by the harmony of Chinese families returning from the “Chinese family experience” trip in Changsha, Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang. Wang exclaimed happily: “I have Chinese mom and dad now!” She considers China to be a gorgeous country and believes that Chinese people are very friendly. The Chinese Bridge candidates visited China because of their love for Chinese language, they will maintain their high spirits so as to make efforts to perform well and enjoy themselves during the competition. Wang also hopes that candidates will enhance friendship and promote China’s fascinating language.

This year’s “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students has been sponsored by Hanban and organized by the Hunan Provincial Education Department, Hunan Broadcasting System and the International Chinese Language and Culture Promotion Center. Since 2002, 8 competitions have taken place to much success. To date it has attracted 705 candidates from over 60 countries and nearly 70,000 people have participated in the preliminary competitions worldwide.

Xiao Yayu, Deputy Director General of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial People's Congress, Guo Kailang, Vice Governor of the People’s Government of Hunan Province, Sheng Maolin, Secretary-General of the People’s Government of Hunan Province and Wang Yongli, Deputy Director of Hanban and other Chinese governmental leaders were in attendance at the opening ceremony.