256 award-winning students from various schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, accompanied by their parents, came to the auditorium of Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco to attend the awards ceremony.
Bi Gang, Deputy Consul General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco, who attended the ceremony to present awards to the winners, said that more and more American parents hope their children will understand Chinese culture and learn the Chinese language to enhance their competitiveness among their peers. Currently, Chinese is one of the more popular foreign language electives in American classrooms.
Li Cunzhong, who won first place in the poetry recitation competition for the non-native speaker group (grades 6-8), was participating in the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese competition for the third consecutive time. Her mother proudly revealed to reporters that this was the eighth championship her daughter had won in various Chinese competitions held in the San Francisco Bay Area since she was five years old.
"I spend two hours every day after school practicing Chinese conversation and writing. I also really enjoy reading Chinese books. My favorite book is 'Journey to the West'," said Li Cunzhong.
Li Cunzhong's younger brother, Li Cunkuan, also participated in the competition and achieved a great result by winning third place.
According to Xie Jiaxin, Director of the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University, the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese competition is attracting an increasing number of non-ethnic Chinese students. For the sake of fairness, the competition is divided into native speaker and non-native speaker groups. "In recent years, non-ethnic Chinese students have performed very well, and their level of Chinese is impressive," he said.
9-year-old Li Liulin is an American-born Chinese student. Participating for the second time, she won third place in the essay competition for the native speaker group. Her father expressed special gratitude to "Chinese Bridge" for providing students with an opportunity to showcase their Chinese language and artistic talents. "Participating in the competition can further stimulate children's enthusiasm for learning Chinese, and I hope my child can learn more about Chinese culture," he said.
According to Yang Jun, Education Counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese extracurricular activity competition is hosted by the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Unified School District, and sponsored by the Education Office of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco. This year's Chinese Bridge Cup featured six categories: hard-pen calligraphy, soft-pen calligraphy, painting, recitation, essay writing, and translation, attracting over 1,500 primary and secondary school students to participate.
