July 13th, 2017 witnessed the opening of the 4th Confucius Institute Summer Camp in CUPL attended by 46 students and teachers from Confucius Institutes at Bangor University, Bucharest University and the University of the West Indies. Attendants enjoyed various colorful cultural activities in Beijing and Suzhou.
Unlike the previous years, 11 officials from the Ministry of Education of Barbados and the Caribbean Examination Council also visited CUPL during the summer camp. In the morning of July 17th, 2017, the opening ceremony of the 4th Confucius Institute Summer Camp was held at the Xueyuanlu Campus. The opening ceremony was attended by Prof. Ma Huaide, Vice President of CUPL, Prof. Xu Lan, Director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, and Li Dandan, Director of the Confucius Institute Office, the Chinese Co-directors of the three CIs, the Barbados Education Delegation and students enrolled in the summer camp.
(China’s Education System Class)
During the summer camp, students from the three CIs attended classes on Mandarin, tea art, local culture and Chinese education system, and visited the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), Tuanjiehu Community, Changping campus of CUPL, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Qianmen Street, National Museum of China, etc. Besides, the Barbados students were invited to visit the Embassy of Barbados in P.R.C., and the Romanian students were invited to attend the opening ceremony of “Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Confucius Institute Summer Camp 2017” organized by Hanban in BFSU.
During their visit to Suzhou, the students have attended courses on the history and culture of Suzhou, paper-cutting, incense burning and sachets, calligraphy, fan-painting, engravings on jade and cores, etc. The students also visited local schools and various scenic and historic spots, such as Suzhou Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST), Sunan Folk Craft School, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Humble Administrators’ Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan), Tiger Hill, Shantang Street and Taihu Wetland Park. The schedule has a distinctive and traditional Chinese feature, thus the students were highly engaged in the activities and charmed by the Chinese culture.
(Calligraphy Class)
The Closing Ceremony of the summer camp was held at the end of July in Suzhou GIST. Prof. Zhao Chunming of Suzhou GIST hosted the ceremony, and Li Dandan, Director of the Office of CI of CUPL, delivered the closing speeches. At the end of the ceremony, Li Dandan, Song Qingbao and Dong Jingbo awarded the students certificates of completion and medals.
(Awarding the Certificates of Completion)
Since 2012, CUPL have co-established three CIs in UK, Romania and Barbados, and CUPL have hosted the summer camp for international students for 4 years. The attendants worldwide can not only study Chinese language, but experience Chinese culture directly through these activities. The students always left China with friendship and wonderful memories.
