Appreciating the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhenjiang and Presenting Compelling China Stories——“Chinese Bridge” online Delegation Exchange Program successfully completed

On January 13, 2023, the online program Appreciating the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhenjiang and Presenting Compelling China Stories sponsored by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and undertaken by the Language and Culture Center of Jiangsu University, was successfully completed in the "cloud".

This program is the third Chinese culture experience program held by the Language and Culture Center since 2022. More than 230 Chinese and Chinese culture lovers from more than 20 countries, including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zambia, Vietnam, and Thailand, participated in this project. The program relies on the recording and broadcasting courses with local culture of Zhenjiang and intangible cultural heritage as the core. The live courses focus on Chinese teaching, which supplemented by interesting and well-designed expansion sessions. Its contents mainly cover: urban history, intangible cultural heritage stories, folklore, places of interest, science and art, traditional food, Chinese and foreign celebrities and other series of sections.

Teachers and volunteers from the Language and Culture Center showed the students around Zhenjiang online, they started from the history of Zhenjiang, then appreciated the charm of intangible cultural heritage, fully enjoyed traditional cuisine, and explored the Chinese spirit and wisdom contained in it. At the closing ceremony, the excellent works of the students were displayed, including writing, painting, poster design, Chinese poetry recitation, and opera singing. In addition, the students also learned to make the famous Zhenjiang food GUO GAI MIAN. Teachers and students jokingly claim that within ten days, they are proficient in all eighteen martial arts skills

Through the 10 day Chinese Bridge program, students expressed that they had not only improved their Chinese level, but also learned about rich and colorful intangible cultural heritage of Zhenjiang. They hoped to have the opportunity to come to China in the future to experience the profound Chinese culture. LAM NHU NGUYEN student from Vietnam said in his graduation speech: "Thanks to Jiangsu University and the teachers, this course is very well designed, I learned a lot, not only learned new words and grammar, improved my Chinese level, but also deeply understood Zhenjiang's intangible cultural heritage." PIMRAT from Thailand said in his speech:  I didn't know anything about Zhenjiang at all before. now I know about the three monsters in Zhenjiang, 3 famous mountains, and I have learned about the intangible cultural heritage related to these places. I fell in love with Zhenjiang and hope to have the opportunity to come to Zhenjiang in the future. My favorite part of this program is the teachers’ teaching methods by stories, and I can also tell stories in Chinese... "PIMRAT proudly recited a Chinese poem in her vivid and interesting way.

Although the space is far away, the soul can cross mountains and rivers and be closely connected. In just ten days of communication and interaction, the students experienced the charm of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, enhanced their understanding of Chinese culture, and to some extent increased their awareness of cross-cultural communication.

The Language and Culture Center will continue to adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and connectivity between China and other countries, building a broader communication platform with the best posture, and creating more high-quality programs, in order to strengthen communication and mutual learning with other civilizations, tell Chinese stories well, and spread the Chinese voice well.

(Tang Min)