NEWS
Confucius Institute Highlights Chinese Culture and Chinese Arabic Calligraphy
Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Khadijah Abdusalem)
March 11, 2023
The Confucius Institute at the University of Bahrain held an online “winter camp”, in collaboration with Shanghai University, as part of the “Chinese Bridge” program, in which it reviewed the culture of Chinese script, Chinese stories, Chinese cuisine, sports, Chinese martial arts games and others.
The Bahraini calligrapher, Jaafar Hamzah, who has experience in Chinese Arabic calligraphy, participated in the Chinese script section. Participants admired the set of new Arabic fonts. The program director from the International Program Office at the College of International Education, Shanghai University, Huang Xin, participated in a joint aesthetic experience of the Chinese Arabic calligraphy.
As part of the camp, Chef Chi Yu presented a practical workshop on preparing Chinese dumplings. The foreign expert on Chinese affairs in (CGTN) Television Network, Dr. Yasser Jawad, shared stories of his memories and experiences in China. The attendees were also introduced to a variety of traditional Chinese martial arts and Chinese folk dances such as tai chi, by learning and imitating the movements of a robot through a VR.
The Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute, Dr. Gu Qianwen, gave a speech at the end of the program on Tuesday February 28, 2023, in which she encouraged Chinese language lovers from the GCC countries to learn the Chinese language and get to know China closely. She said she is looking forward to their participation in several activities to learn the Chinese language, whether through attending at the institute in person or online.
The student in architecture program, winner of the Excellence International Award in the 20th “Chinese Bridge” competition, Siraj Hussain, extended her thanks and appreciation to Shanghai University for creating a Chinese educational platform for students from GCC countries. She said that learning Chinese intangible cultural heritage helped her understand Chinese culture and architectural design.
It is worthy to note that the first winter camp of the “Chinese Bridge” educational program for the GCC countries was launched online at the Center for Language and Education Cooperation in China, in collaboration with Shanghai University, on February 15, 2023. A total of 73 students from universities in GCC countries participated in the program, 51% of whom were from the University of Bahrain, in addition to some pupils from local international schools, including the French International School of Bahrain and the British School of Bahrain.
