Contestants competing. Photo by the production team
The fourth round of the final of the 18th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students concluded in Changsha on August 6. Based on the scores of the four rounds, the top three contestants from each of the five continents successfully advanced to the world top 15.
Egyptian contestant Shi Yu. Photo by the production team
It is learned that the world top 15 players are Bai Yang, Xiaoma and Taylor Pan from the Oceanian team, Shi Yu, Chen Anyi and Lin Xia from the Africa team, Luo Mingyan, Li Meng and Bei Ancheng from the America team, Jia Song, Maria, An Zishi from the European team and Jiang Tiangai, Yang Jinyu and Jin Leisheng from the Asian team.
This final was divided into three parts: Listening Warm-up Competition, Chinese Character Nine Squares and Senior Students Showing You Around China. In the poetry competition, the contestants expounded through various interesting means the ways ancient Chinese used to live through the intense heat of summer. “China is hotter than Africa. When I was in Africa, my skin was chocolate-colored. After I came to China, it became carbon black.” The Ghanaian contestant Nathan’s humorous words made people burst into laughter.
Australian contestant Bai Yang. Photo by the production team
Li Meng, a Brazilian contestant praised as “little poetry prince”, illustrated “the way to survive summer heat” by quoting lines from Bai Juyi’s poem—“A quiet mind dispels the heat; an empty house enjoys coolness”. “This couplet means that so long as you keep calm, you don’t feel the heat too much.” Li Meng is keen on Chinese poetry. He memorizes Li Bai’s Staying Overnight in a Mountain Temple and Wang Wei’s Thinking of My Brothers on Mountain Climbing Day so well that he can quote them at any time without forethought.
In the third part, namely “Senior Students Showing You Around China”, David, a senior student at “Chinese Bridge”, played a VLOG video to show to contestants the beautiful scenery of China from a high angle shot, including landscapes like Yuncheng Salt Lake, the Stork Tower and the Yellow River.
“What a feast for my eyes! I have been to Beijing, Hangzhou and Xi’an. I think the night scene of Chongqing is very beautiful and romantic.” Chen Anyi, a Moroccan contestant, boldly showed the dialect he had learned in Chongqing.
Ghanaian contestant Nathan. Photo by the production team
Shi Yu, an Egyptian contestant who has successfully advanced to the top 15, has been studying Chinese for four years. Her experience of teaching in a mountainous area of Jiangxi Province last year inspired her to become a Chinese teacher. In September this year, she will go to Beijing Normal University as a graduate student majoring in international education. “After this round of competition concludes, some friends will have to leave,” Shi Yu said. “I’m not sure if we can ever meet again, but I believe we will keep in contact with one another.”
It is said that the winners this time will be divided into three groups to go to Shanghai, Hebei and Shandong for cultural experience activities, during which they can experience Chinese traditional culture and innovative technologies in multiple dimensions. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: Chinanews.com, Story by Tang Xiaoqing, Wu Jialing and Su Zhiyan)
