Contestants’ high five from European Group
On August 4th, the second round of the 18th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held in Changsha. Top 30 contestants, with excellent Chinese language knowledge, competed in the funny examination on classical Chinese poetry.
This final included three series: “Listening Warming-up”, “Chinese Character Nine Squares”, and “Tour around China with Senior Fellow Classmates”. By adding together the score in this round with that of previous round, contestant Yang Jinyu from Thailand won the first place in this round.
Yang Jinyu from Thailand
All contestants were very confident about the first two questions in the series “Listening Warming-up”. They all gave a correct answer for the first question. Contestant Jiang Tiangai from Myanmar overcame all difficulties in the first round and correctly answered three questions in a row. “‘Chinese Bridge’ is an impetus propelling many people in my country to learn Chinese language, and those who are proficient in Chinese will be offered more job opportunities,” Jiang Tiangai said after the competition.
In the series “Chinese Character Nine Squares”, the first question on oracle bone inscriptions is a tough test on contestants’ Chinese language foundation. All contestants of Asian Group gave correct answers at the top speed. Unluckily, contestants of European Group suffered a disastrous defeat.
It is worth mentioning that the program group tactfully set up three questions on classical Chinese poetry, which led top 30 contestants into the “night life” of ancient Chinese people. Reviewer Professor Zhao Dongmei from Peking University said that the “night life” of the ancients was quite romantic and elegant: it could be like “She lies watching her staircase cold in the moon, and two stars parted by the River of Heaven”, or “My friend’s not kept his word to come, now it’s midnight. What can I do but play chess alone by lamplight”. On the question concerning “In the crowds for her, I’d searched a thousand times, Perchance I turned, And there she was, Where lights were few and dim”, however, only Yang Jinyu quickly gave a correct answer, becoming the first to score 12 points. Other contestants were surprised by her substantial knowledge reserve.
In the series “Tour around China with Senior Fellow Classmates”, “Dami”, who was a contestant in the 10th “Chinese Bridge” 2011, set a question, guiding top 30 contestants to shuttle back and forth Chinese city of gastronomy Shunde. Contestants felt about Shunde’s dietary culture through a wonderful VLOG video. Contestant Pan Taile from Australia sang a song adapted from “Chengdu”, with the tune lingering in the house and earning incessant applause from the audience.
Celebration of Asian Group
In addition, contestants also had in-depth studies on the historical and cultural knowledge behind Chinese cuisine and touched the pulse of Chinese traditional culture through cooking smell of delicious food. “Names of Chinese food usually contain propitious meaning, which is also a reflection of culture,” Yang Jinyu, who is a big fan of Chinese food, particularly steamed fish head with chilli pepper from Hunan, said, “Each meal is a good opportunity to communicate with contestants from different countries, and discussion on gourmet food and diet also promotes exchanges and mutual learning of different cultures.”
Zhao Dongmei believed that, besides getting a good grade in the competition of “Chinese Bridge”, contestants still bore a grand aspiration, which is linking the world with Chinese language as a bridge. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: Chinanews.com, Story by Tang Xiaoqing, Wu Jialing and Su Zhiyan)
