The annual "Chinese Bridge" competition attracts the attention of Chinese language learners around the world and has become an important platform for Chinese language learners to showcase their learning achievements. At present, the overseas preliminary competitions of the 21st "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in 2022 with the theme of "One World, One Family" is being held successively.

Fierce and Exciting Competitions offline

The final of the Irish competition was held at the University of Dublin. This is the first time since the pandemic outbreak that this event has been held offline. College students from Dublin, Cork and Maynooth took part in the competition actively.

From this year onwards, Chinese is included in the Irish GCSE and the first oral Chinese GCSE examination was held in April. The contestants expressed their love for Chinese language and culture in fluent Chinese, showcased their rich Chinese talents and explained their understanding of "One World, One Family", which won them the audience's continuous applause.

After a fierce competition, Anna Roth, a student of applied foreign languages at the University of Cork, won the competition. Anna, 22, said she had prepared for this competition for a long time and was very happy to win. She is interested in Chinese philosophy and hopes to study it in China.

In the Madagascar region, participants from the University of Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa University and Mahajanga University took part in the competition.

This year's tournament was the first large-scale offline one held since the outbreak. The contestants enthusiastically and confidently brought out the best in their Chinese language learning achievements and understanding of Chinese culture.

In the Mongolian competition, the contestants gathered together to show talents. The competition was divided into three parts: keynote speech, objective knowledge quiz and Chinese talent show. In the part of keynote speech, the contestants focused on the theme of "One World, One Family" and gave wonderful speeches from the perspectives of Chinese language, global village, studying abroad, Chinese traditional culture, human and nature, etc.

In the part of objective knowledge quiz, contestants answered questions on Chinese language and characters, literature and art, science and technology education, ecology and environment, etc. The contestants answered the questions fluently and showed their profound knowledge reserve, which ranged across various fields including Chinese character stroke order, idiom interpretation, the "Four Great Masterpieces", the "Five Famous Mountains", film and television drama, modern literature, 5G technology and Shenzhou spacecraft. 

In the part of Chinese talent show, the contestants performed Chinese recitation, folk dance, martial arts and Tai Chi, cross talk, etc. For the cross talk called "Speaking out Dish Names", the performers' clear and eloquent words won them applause; For the dance named "Memory of Qiantang River", the dancers interpreted the ebb and flow of the river with their graceful postures, brilliantly demonstrating Chinese charm; along with the Chinese music, a piece of Tai Chi, the movement of which is like flowing water, was breathtaking.

After more than five hours of competition, Munkhulzii Marjan from City University was awarded the "Best Talent Award" for his outstanding performance.

In Morocco, the contestants told moving stories about the two countries working together to develop the "Belt and Road" Initiative, to fight against the epidemic and to welcome the Beijing Winter Olympics, explaining their understanding of "One world, One family". After a fierce competition, contestant Ma Shiyun (Chinese name) finally came out on top and won the championship in Morocco.

Intense and breathtaking "cloud" competitions

Due to the pandemic, the competition was held online in some regions, but it did not affect the contestants' passion for it.

In Kyrgyzstan, on the theme of "One World, One Family", the contestants talked about their experience of learning Chinese, their pursuit of Chinese language and culture, and their love for Chinese scenery and food. In the part of talent show, the contestants performed Chinese dances, Chinese songs, Chinese tea art and Chinese allegro, showing their Chinese language skills and their understanding and love of Chinese culture.

In Indonesia, although the competition was held online, it attracted above 30 contestants from more than 10 schools in the East Java region alone. During the competition, the contestants expressed their thoughts on "One World, One Family" and their desire for peace and beauty in the world in a heartfelt manner. The Chinese talent show also featured contestants' various Chinese talent performances, including classical instrumental music, Chinese calligraphy, martial arts, and dance.

In Nigeria, the contestants competed in the following four parts---knowledge point quiz, impromptu quiz, Chinese speech contest and Chinese talent show. Their fluent Chinese, exquisite talent, enthusiasm for learning Chinese and their love for Chinese culture deeply touched the audience and aroused their applause.

In Italy and San Marino, the final was divided into two sessions: knowledge quiz and impromptu keynote speech. The knowledge quiz includes knowledge of Chinese language, general knowledge of Chinese culture, literature and art, science and technology education, etc. The topics of the keynote speeches were also very innovative, such as "If I knew the future" and "What would life be like without cell phones". During the competition, the contestants were calm and composed, answering questions wisely and demonstrating their good Chinese language skills and understanding of Chinese culture.

Attached and fruitful "Chinese Bridge" experiences

"Chinese Bridge" is an important platform for Chinese language fans to learn Chinese, understand China and experience Chinese culture, and has built a bridge between China and young people from all over the world in the past 21 years.

Osvaldir, a professor at the University of Campinas in Brazil, believes that the "Chinese Bridge" competition has promoted the enthusiasm of Chinese language learning among students and teachers at the University of Campinas, and is a great opportunity for Chinese language learners.

Cyndi McLenod, president of the Chinese Bridge Club in Vancouver, Canada, said that the "Chinese Bridge" competition provides a platform for young people from various countries and regions to showcase their Chinese language and enhance their understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

Jarmila Strakova, Vice Rector of the Technical and Business Institute in Bujejovice, Czech, said that the "Chinese Bridge" competition provides Czech students with the opportunity to compete with young students from all over the world and to demonstrate their knowledge of the Chinese language and culture.

According to Akanisi Kodelayat, Dean of the School of Humanity and Law at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, Chinese language has infinite charm and the "Chinese Bridge" competition is a great opportunity for the participants to report their learning achievements in the past year.

Kendall Kracke, an American girl who won the global championship of "Chinese Bridge" last year, said she was honored to participate in the "Chinese Bridge" competition and got to know many excellent contestants. During the competition, they overcame many difficulties together, all of which were to share their love for Chinese.

"The time of the 'Chinese Bridge' competition is neither long nor short, but it is a very important time in my life. In the competition, I gained knowledge and friendship and improved my language skills." Aya Ibrahim Mohamed, a senior student at the Chinese Language Department of Cairo University, has just participated in this year's the preliminary competition of the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Egypt and won the Grand Prize.

She said, "I have been interested in Chinese culture since I was a child and wanted to enter the vast world of studying Chinese culture and history, and now I finally have the opportunity to realize this dream. The bond with Chinese has given me a richer spiritual world, a broader perspective and a better version of myself." (cited from Center for Language Education and Cooperation)