10 June 2019

The first Shanghai International Students' Chinese Classic Poetry Recitation Competition was held as scheduled, bringing together more than 200 foreign students, judges and scholars from 18 universities in Shanghai to participate in this cultural event. With the purpose of promoting Chinese language and culture and displaying the charm of Chinese classical poetry, the competition encourages foreign students to combine Chinese classical poetry with folk songs at all times and in all countries to appreciate Chinese poetry and taste the beauty of music.

At the opening ceremony, Sun Bing, Secretary-General of the Shanghai International Student Education Research Association and Dean of the School  of International Cultural Exchange, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, delivered a speech. The competition began with the singing of pupils from Baoshan Foreign Language School affiliated to Shanghai University, and foreign students from 18 universities were divided into four groups for the competition, followed by the judges making professional comments on the performance of each group.

In this recitation competition, Barsukova Alena, a foreign student of STA, chose a passage from the “Book of Songs” as the poem for recitation. Alena wore Chinese long clothes, and recited the poem in the speech pronunciation of the young female role in Peking Opera, which also suddenly changed to singing with deep feelings with the accompaniment of live band featuring rich melody and long-lasting charm. The form of performance was unique, interweaving the classical and the modern and showing the collision of connotation and passion, which deeply touched the audience and the judges present. After heated competition, STA and Fudan University tied and won the first prize.

Poetry is a form of Chinese cultural inheritance. The spirit of peace, win-win and freedom contained in Chinese classical poetry is highly consistent with the concept of development advocated by China today. This contest, which aimed at connecting and nurturing people with culture, was well received by international students. The International Exchange Center of STA will also continue to provide more cultural exchange platforms for foreign students so that they can further understand and love Chinese culture, and make them the goodwill envoys for the promotion of Chinese culture and Sino-foreign exchanges, so as to play a bridging role in promoting friendly exchanges between China and the home countries of foreign students.