In the very end of April, 2019 International Chinese Language and Culture Competition preliminary round was held in Suzhou. According to its results, eight students from the Silk Road School were selected to demonstrate the best of their knowledge in the final round of the competition on May 10th side by side with Chinese delegates.

More than twenty students, both local and foreign, came together to demonstrate their interest and knowledge of Chinese language and culture. All these participants were wearing beautiful Chinese traditional dresses, which made the ceremony entirely beautiful, as teams representing the Renmin University of China Silk Road School were very international. They were composed of students from such diverse countries as Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, France and Latvia.

Atmosphere in the hall was warm and welcoming. Many people, Silk Road School students among them, came watch the competition and to cheer up the participants in their cultural journey. For the foreign players, the contest included a short dictation, answering questions about the Chinese culture, matching lines from famous Chinese poems and choosing characters for poems. It was not an easy task, but all teams demonstrated great dedication and impressive results, and were awarded by strong public support and encouragement. With such massive support from the audience, students of Renmin University of China just could not let themselves down, and by the end of the third round, all Silk Road School teams had surpassed participants from two other schools. Also, for Chinese participants, the competition was not of a smooth ride. Local students conducted great preparation, making competition very tense and stressful in their division. Even though foreign participants also prepared well enough, they took it much easier and enjoyed the contest. They were rather keeping the friendly vibe and even trying to give each other a hand of help than involving in direct competition.

Overall, Silk Road School teams took all the major positions in 2019 International Chinese Language and Culture Competition foreign division. Hugues from France and Pornpika from Thailand demonstrated wide Chinese language and culture knowledge. They impressed the audience in the third round, where they had to recite lines from famous Chinese poems. Making no mistakes in this and following round, they surpassed all other teams and, therefore, received the first place. Rin from Vietnam and Lily from Indonesia were leading the completion during the first few rounds, but then a little gave up their position and with a small gap of two points finished second. Meanwhile, participants from Latvia - Helena and Tatjana - came third, and Rahim from Cote d’Ivoire and Gabriel from Liberia received the fourth place.

This way or another, all these delegates showed themselves as enthusiastic individuals who are constantly widening their horizons, reaching new heights, and encouraging others to take risks and explore more by their own example. We wish them all the best of luck, and hope to see them in various other competitions, achieving better and better results!

Written by :Tatjana Andrejeva

Edited by: Zhang Mingyu

Tatjana Andrejeva is a student from Latvia, currently doing a Master program in Renmin University of China. She received a Bachelor Degree in Asian Studies at the University of Latvia. Back in her country she used to actively participate in various Chinese competitions, such as 中国梦and 汉语桥, and won the first prize. Exploring China seems a wonderful opportunity and adventure to her.