United Nations Chinese Language Day Celebration at Presbyterian College

April 20th, 2018 is the United Nations Chinese Language Day. In order to celebrate this day, Confucius Institute at Presbyterian College, together with Student Involvement and Office of International Programs, organized a Confucius Institute Open Day and a series of activities on Friday.

To begin with, in one of the Chinese classes at PC, Dr Taiwei Wang shared a poem “Spring Dawn”, written by Meng Haoran, a Tang Dynasty(618–907) poet. Dr Wang wrote the poem on the whiteboard in the vertical way and explained the reason. He also encouraged the students to draw a picture according to the poem so that they could better understand the Chinese poem. Students could understand, appreciate and recite the poem after explanation and singing the poem.

Poem Reading in the Chinese Classes

The celebration also included Q&A about United Nations Chinese Language Day, which familiarized the audiences to the aims and reasons of this special day.

Audiences Vowed for his Amazing Skills in Playing Diabolo

Exhibitions of kite, Bamboo slip,animals of the year, etc, drew elementary school students, PC students, faculty and staff. They were provided opportunities to fly a kite into the sky, get a Chinese name, have some Chinese tea, play Chinese chess, use chopsticks to catch a chocolate and play Chinese diabolo. People who had a sip of Chinese tea expressed their likes of the tea; Students who succeeded in catching a chocolate with chopsticks showed their skills to others; Boys attracted people’s attention by showing off his talents in playing Chinese diabolo.

Student Using Chopsticks to Catch Chocolate

Audience Trying Chinese Tea

The United Nations Chinese Language Day is observed on April 20 every year since 2010, celebrating the language's contribution to the world while encouraging more people to learn it.

Students were Happy to Get their Chinese Names

Playing Chinese Chess

April 20 marks the Guyu, Grain Rain or "Rain of Millet" in Chinese. The Guyu is sixth of the 24 solar terms in the traditional lunar calendar, the day when farmers start sowing.

It is also the day to pay tribute to Cangjie, an imaginary figure in traditional Chinese lore regarded as the inventor of Chinese characters.

Story by Li Hongyan and Photos by Wang Liangyu