An International Chinese Contest for Peace

By+staff+reporter+SEBASTIEN+ROUSSILLAT

ON August 3， I was invited to attend the finale and closing ceremony of the 13th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students. This contest， organized jointly by the Confucious Institute Headquarters （Hanban）， the Hunan provincial government and Hunan TV， was held， unsurprisingly， in Changsha， capital of the province.

Launched in 2002， the contest is open to all foreign college students who study Chinese. The candidates are first chosen in their home countries in the spring， and the final contest is held in China during the summer. After development over the past decade， today the contest includes participants from 80 countries on five continents， of every tongue and ethnicity.

A Contest to Unite Peoples

As its name indicates， for founder Xu Jialu， the contest is a means to bring together young people from all backgrounds with a common love for the Chinese language and culture. This year， 126 candidates came to Changsha to vie for the prize. There are five prizes for the champion of each continent（Africa， Asia， the Americas， Europe， and Oceania）， plus the grand prize of the worlds best. This year， a Brazilian girl， Munica Cunha da Silva， top of the Latin American contingent， won the title. The continental prizewinners were an Australian， a Korean， a Russian， and a Zimbabwean， as well as the Brazilian finalist.

In addition to the contest for college students， the Chinese Bridge has several offshoots. There is a similar contest for high school students， and another version for foreigners studying in China， which was transformed this year into a general contest for all foreigners. The prizewinner， a young Russian named David， had already participated in the older format in 2012. I won the prize for the fourth contest for foreign students in China， which was broadcast by CCTV International.

The New Contest

This years program is distinguished by the support of Hunan TV， one of Chinas most popular broadcasters. Hunan TV has a reputation for trendy， high-quality productions and has attracted large audience from all age groups. The contests organizers hence chose to align with the station to broaden the events popularity. It was broadcast at prime time every evening in August， with ratings at a steady high throughout.

This years contest was even more riveting， thanks to changes in format， formerly very simple： a series of questions， improvisations and other onstage performances. This year the contest is pushing its boundaries. The organizers want to “take the contest out of the box” and to let candidates see the country. In part this is to prevent the contestants –some of whom are visiting China for the first time– from being put off by the media coverage. The film crew therefore brought this years contestants to Xian， capital of Shaanxi Province and capital of several ancient dynasties. They have also traveled to Anhua， the town of black tea， in Hunan Province， as well as Jingdezhen， capital of Chinese porcelain， in Jiangxi Province.endprint

And the Battle Begins！

But dont think that this was just tourism！ To the contrary， each voyage was one of three matches for the final qualifications. But before describing the real “battle，” I would like to mention the competitions opening ceremony， held in the Yuelu Academy， home to one of Chinas oldest universities， in Changsha. Founded in 976， the academy is a historical monument and Confucian symbol of academic excellence. The contestants， garbed in folk costumes， were led through three courtyards at the academy where traditional ceremonies were performed. At the end of the process was the “pen opening” ritual， a Confucian tradition symbolizing the beginning of education， presided over by famous calligrapher Fan Zeng. He introduced the participants to calligraphy and Confucian philosophy. The phrase chosen for the occasion was Zhi Xing He Yi， “put your learning into practice.”

The race began after the history- and cultureladen opening at the tranquil institute of learning. Only 94 of the original 126 candidates made it to the second round of competition， soon reduced to 30， six for each of the five continents. The contes-tants continued to further trials， with more winnowed out each time. Only five survived to reach the finale.

Laughter and Emotions

Enough on this ruthless linguistic duel！ Lets look at the moving and humorous side of the contest. During the outdoor contest， the candidates had help from the locals， but also fell into traps set by the organizers. In Anhua， for example， before learning how to make a brick of compressed black tea， candidates were asked to sell tea to tourists. Each group had an object to help them， if they knew how to use it. One group was given a wedding dress ... But that didnt unsettle the Singaporean candidate， who wore it to the delight and laughter of all around. With the dress fluttering around him， he extolled the health benefits of black tea and successfully sold several bricks.

During the challenge at Xian， the Brazilian candidate had to sell small replicas of terra cotta soldiers. But the crew sabotaged them， sending a couple of disguised tourists to argue in front of the stall and smash the statuettes. How could she repay the shop owner for a dozen statues dashed to smithereens？ In flawless Chinese she simply ordered the crazy couple to “repay these damages immediately！”

In the round at Jingdezhen， the Zimbabwean candidate learned that notions of time and space in China are different from his own country. After getting lost in the urban treasure hunt， he asked for directions from an old Chinese man who responded，“Its not far， maybe 50 or 60 meters.” The delighted contestant proudly advanced， feeling himself close to victory and forgetting about the Chinese love for euphemisms. After 50 meters without reaching the goal， he panicked and started running through the streets， quickly getting lost again.endprint

The summer heat also put the candidates to the test， several of whom fainted in the course of filming. As the contest crew went looking for help， other candidates gathered around， some wielding a fan and others spraying water on their unconscious teammates. A touching bond was thus formed in an unexpected crisis.

The grand finale， held on set one month after the competition opened， was eagerly viewed by a huge television audience. On the theme “the Silk Road， a lifeline between China and the world，” the grandiose show was very well run， and impressive for the technical expertise and the number of extras engaged in the spectacle. Winners from all the continents participated in the great tableau. There were elements of all the previous challenges： porcelain， martial arts， tea， Tang Dynasty politics and so on. The five contestants also had to answer the final questions posed by the jury. Among the jurors were the director of Croatias Confucius Institute； film star Tang Guoqiang， who frequently portrays Mao Zedong on screen； and Hai Xia， the CCTV presenter. The viewing public voted on the competition， and the jurys commentary served only as advice.

Finally， the Brazilian candidate took the first place. She had the honor of being the first Latin American to win the honor. Xu Jialu， the contests founder， gave her the prize and congratulated her on her success. Despite the challenges and difficulty of the competition， in the end it is the smiles and joy of candidates at being in China and learning Chinese that is most important.endprint