On the afternoon of June 21, 2016 “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” Chinese Speech Contest for Foreigners Final jointly sponsored by the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government and Jiangsu Education Department, undertaken by Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, was held grandly at Jiangsu TV Station. 16 contestants from the preliminaries of Nanjing, Wuxi and Xuzhou advanced into the final. Through a fierce competition, Park Chun-hye, a Jiangsu University student from South Korea won a first prize in the final with her speech entitled “Happy Jiangsu, Joyful Chinese”. Another Jiangsu University student from Turkmenistan named Jose Khabarov won a third prize with the topic “China, How Can I Not Love You!”. Jiangsu University also won the the Best Organization Award at the Chinese Speech Contest. Si Jinquan, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government awarded the certificates and trophies to winners of the first prize.

The last round of contest was held on June 21 in the Broadcast Center of Jiangsu Entertainment Channel. The excited contestants were on the orderly stage in the Studio packed by the audience. The contestants were to do three things. First, they raced to answer the questions raised by the anchorperson ranging from Chinese cuisine to the history of Jiangsu province. The fluent answering of these questions by the contestants won a burst of applause from the audience in the Studio. Then came the talent show, where the contestants impressed the audience most by their wonderful performance of traditional Chinese talents and Chinese Kungfu they had mastered. Finally they each delivered a thematic speech, in which the contestants told their own stories in fluent Chinese about Jiangsu, or about China at large. Park Chun-hye, the first prize winner, told her personal experience of the warmth he had felt when she studied in Nanjing and Jiangsu University as an exchange student. She said, “For me, China is a very special place, because she gives me a new start, a new vision of the world and much warmth as well. I was a very shy girl when I was young. I was very timid, lonely and have very few friends. I even suffered from campus violence. I gradually became an isolated girl that no one would feel it easy to get along with. When I was 20 years old, I came to Nanjing for the first time and as an exchange student for 4 months, where I immediately felt the warmth from my teachers and classmates…...when I came to Jiangsu again as an exchange student this time, I felt extremely happy to have got more concern and better friendship.”

What should be noted in particular is that in the process of this contest Park Chun-hye had to overcome the difficulties of sweltering heat in summer and long-distance commuting between Zhenjiang and Nanjing, as well as pains of her broken leg. Despite all these difficulties, she attended the Nanjing Preliminary of Chinese Bridge·2016 Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreigners across the Globe and the 2016 “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” Final also held in Nanjing. Her graceful Chinese and persevering spirit were warmly applauded by the audience.

The 2016 “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” Contest lasted more than 2 months. Themed at “ Happy Jiangsu, Joyful Chinese”, the contest inspired foreign students to learn the Chinese language actively and to experience the Chinese culture personally, in the meanwhile providing a platform for them to demonstrate the way they had grown in China and improved their Chinese proficiency.  To sum up, the contest is truly a melting pot of the Chinese and foreign cultures.