On Aug. 15, Maria Victoria Angulo, Colombian Minister of Education; Adriana Padilla, Vice Minister of Culture; and Lan Hu, Ambassador of China in Colombia, attended the 2021 Colombia Cup "Xiaomi" Virtual Contest of the 14th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students and delivered speeches.
Minister of Education Angulo stated: "The Colombian Ministry of Education is honored to co-organize with the Chinese Embassy in Colombia to hold the 2021 Colombia Cup 'Xiaomi' Virtual Contest of the 14th 'Chinese Bridge' Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students. The 'Chinese Bridge' is not only a great event for the cultural and educational circles of China and Colombia, but also a beautiful collision of mutual appreciation from the civilizations of the East and the West. Through their brilliant speeches and talent shows, the contestants offered an unforgettable present in order to deepen the friendship between Chinese and Colombian people and to mark the 41st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Colombia."
Vice Minister of Culture Padilla said, "The current epidemic is sweeping the world, and in the face of the common enemy of all mankind, it is all the more important for us to trust each other and unite with each other. The Colombian Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Embassy in Colombia jointly organized the 2021 Colombia Cup 'Xiaomi' Virtual Contest of the 14th 'Chinese Bridge' Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, which will build a bridge of friendship for China and Colombia to work together and outlast the difficulties; the 'Chinese Bridge' crosses the ocean and builds a bridge of mutual recognition and cultural appreciation for the youth of both countries. The 'Chinese Bridge' also shares China's advanced cloud technology experience concerning cultural education with the world, and builds a bridge to a new generation of high-quality talents with a global vision, international outlook and multiculturalism, a bridge for constructing a community with a shared future for mankind."
Ambassador Lan Hu extended congratulations to the seven finalists and expressed his heartfelt thanks to Xiaomi for supporting the "Chinese Bridge" competition. Ambassador Lan said, "The 'Chinese Bridge' competition has become a golden brand for Colombian students to understand the development of China and its cultural connotations in a comprehensive and three-dimensional way, and has played an active role in enhancing people-to-people exchanges and promoting people-to-people ties between China and Colombia. The contestants performed very well and told touching stories about their personal experiences of China and Colombia working together to fight against the epidemic and their win-win cooperation, expressing the historical commitment of Colombian youth to China-Colombia friendship. I hope that primary and secondary school students will continue to work hard, learn Chinese well and continue to write a new chapter for China-Colombia friendship!"
Country Manager Xiaomi Colombia Michael Feng Wentao said in his speech, "We thank 'Chinese Bridge' for building a big platform for overseas Chinese enterprises to promote the Chinese language, spread Chinese culture and help China-Colombia friendship, and we thank Colombian Xiaomi fans for their strong support and love. Xiaomi will keep creating smart products suitable for various life scenarios for Colombian and global customers, so that everyone can enjoy the beautiful life brought by technology."
At the end, a film of beautiful Jiangsu scenery brought the award ceremony to the climax again. The colorful water town of Jiangnan, the poetic gardens of Suzhou, the unique traditional Kunqu Opera, the delicious food of Huaiyang, the vibrant Yancheng Elk Nature Reserve, the fragrant tea plantation and the glorious ancient canal of Wuxi Qingming Bridge made the audience fascinated by the profound Chinese culture and hoped that the epidemic would pass soon and they could be able to witness the colorful and charming Chinese culture.
More than 6,000 students from five Confucius Classrooms and more than ten primary and secondary schools in Colombia gave speeches on the theme "Fly High in Chinese" and demonstrated their Chinese talents. The finals were exciting and fierce, with numerous highlights.
Amaia Abaunza, a Guzheng player from the Chinese Center, won the championship and will represent Colombia in the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students. The contribution of traditional Chinese medicine to fight against the epidemic has made her strongly desire to study traditional Chinese medicine and to be a doctor who combines Chinese and Western medicine for the benefit of humanity, based on her father's practice of Western medicine. Simone Bojanic from the Confucius Classroom in New Grenada was the first runner-up, and her dream is to study Chinese at Peking University, just like her mother. Jorge Porras from the Confucius Classroom in Wilmont came in third place and has fallen in love with China since attending the Chinese summer camp and has been awarded a scholarship to Shanghai Jiao Tong University this year. Juliana Palacios from the Confucius Classroom in Great Britain won the Best Online Popularity Award.
Over the past few months, the contest has been continuously promoted through new media platforms such as the official media of the Embassy, Chinese Bridge Club (Bogotá), China-Colombia Friendship Association, three Confucius Institutes, five Confucius Classrooms and more than ten Chinese language teaching centers in primary and secondary schools, and the contest brief introduction, contestants' speeches and talent videos have been broadcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other media of the above organizations respectively. More than 60,000 teachers, students, families and friends groups and viewers watched, commented and praised the contest online. (cited and source from Center for Language Education and Cooperation)
