-- Four-week Chinese Language and Culture Study at Jiangsu University

Program Leader: REN Xiaofei (PhD, Professor, Director of Language and Culture Center & Dean of School of Liberal Arts)

Contact Person: Ms. LI Hongyan

Cooperation Country: Austria

Cooperation University: University of Graz

Students: 20-30 per group

Time   ：October 8, 2016- November 5, 2016;

November 6, 2016-December 3, 2016;

December 4, 2016-December 31, 2016.

Introduction   ：

Jiangnan is the place to gather lotus,

Where among teeming leaves

Fish dart and play!

North and south,

East and west,

Between the lotus leaves they dart and play!

But …… where is Jiangnan?

Jiangnan mentioned herein refers to China’s eastern area along the Yangtze River, including southern part of Jiangsu Province and northern part of Zhejiang Province. Jiangnan Culture, completely different from that in the north, is the spiritual home of many ancient Chinese scholars. Here, flamboyant flowers fully blossoming alongside rivers, numerous poems and essays composed and chanted by literati from generation to generation, long and winding paths running among quaint and ancient houses, narrow alleys scented with lilac flowers, clear streamlets and rivulets with age-old wooden or stone bridges, and picturesque fields and gardens, all of which make Jiangnan a poetic and charming place.

The Cultural Tour of Jiangnan, a four-week Chinese language and culture study program, launched by Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, is based on the rich local culture and supported by the mature teaching pattern of “Thematic Chinese Teaching” of the University by summarizing and condensing the successful Chinese language learning and Chinese cultural experience for overseas students. Zhenjiang, a city with a history of over 2000 years, is located in southern Jiangsu Province with beautiful landscape and abundant produce. The typical water town features of Jiangnan, Three-kingdom culture, Confucianism and Taoism culture, make Zhenjiang the always acclaimed “No. 1 Landscape under Heaven” in China. School of Liberal Arts of Jiangsu University will guarantee a highly qualified and experienced teaching force, among whom, quite a few professors and scholars are granted by state and province research projects and programs, concerning the Analects of Confucius, Book of Poetry, folklores and nonmaterial cultures.

This four-week study program comprises five parts:   Chinese Learning, Culture Practice, Poem Chanting, Water Town Trip and Home-stay, with the purpose of helping participant students improve their Chinese, better understand China, experience Chinese family life, learn more about Chinese history, economy and humanity, seek for the pearl of Chinese culture amid the multicultural exchanges and clashes, enjoy the charming life and appreciate the glamor of culture in Jiangnan, China. Thus, the participants can truly understand China and introduce China to the world.

Distinctive Features:

1．Customer-oriented teaching content and method. Students will be divided into different small groups according to their placement test performance to help them effectively improve their Chinese.

2．The four-week course is rigorous and interesting; “thematic Chinese teaching” guarantees students’ full participation, from course design, classroom learning to presentation.

3. Local cultural features and the cream of humanity of Jiangnan are fully explored, exposing the students to the cultural distinctiveness of Zhenjiang and the disciplinary superiority of Jiangsu University.

4．The five parts are closely associated and interlocked.

5．Colorful activities such as poem chanting, speech contest, photo exhibition, program hosting will be organized to encourage students to present their best achievements.

Program Schedule:

Attention：This schedule is subject to some adjustment.