On 26th November, the International Affairs Office organised a Chinese poetry competition on the theme of ‘Reciting the beautiful poems with the romanticism of the autumn’ for the international students of the 2024 Chinese Language Training Class.

The competition was divided into two parts. The first part was a poetry knowledge contest. Based on the ancient poems that the students had learnt in the poetry lecture, the teacher of the International Affairs Office designed questions about poets, verses and poetic meanings, which were answered by the students in small groups.The participants are eagerly competing to answer the questions, and it’s difficult to determine the winner among the teams as their scores are closely matched.

The second part of the competition was poetry show. Students combined their own understanding of the content of the poems and interpreted the ancient poems by reciting, chanting and performing. Classic Tang poems such as ‘Contemplations on a Still Night’,‘A Poem Dedicated to Wang Lun’,‘On the Pond’,‘A View in the Spring’,‘A Farewell Ode to the Grass of the Ancient Plain’ were presented in a vivid way. The students use poetry to express their ambitions, convey their emotions, and make more friends with similar values, jointly appreciating one of the most enchanting treasure of human culture.

After a fierce competition, finally Margarita Irene Alrarcon Toledo, Illiana de Lourdes Almanzor Laureano, Claudia Gabriela Espana Alzaga from group 3 got the highest points and won the competition. The teacher from the International Affairs Office awarded members of the winning group with ‘The 300 Tang Poems’ as a prize to encourage them to further their study of poetry.

This poetry competition, organized by the International Affairs Office, aims to ignite international students' passion for learning Chinese language and delve into the allure of Chinese poetry. The event has significantly enhanced participants' poetry knowledge and interest in China's exceptional literary works. The International Affairs Office plans to host more events like this to assist the students’ study of Chinese language and traditional Chinese culture.