Continuing its series of cultural events under the theme “Chinese: Sparkling Colourful Dreams” for the International Chinese Language Day, the San Marino Confucius Institute (CI) organised a special activity on May 19. A gentle scent of tea filled the classroom, and brushes slowly descended on rice paper. The CI visited Liceo Giulietta Masina in Rimini, Italy, offering three Chinese culture workshops that allowed local students to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture through calligraphy and tea art.
For first-year high school students who had been learning Chinese for one year, the CI teachers presented a lively and accessible calligraphy class. Starting from the most basic brus holding technique and moving on to the strokes of horizontal, vertical, downward-left and downward-right, the students learned step by step “how to write like the Chinese”. The class specially selected simple and pictographic characters such as “water (水)”, “fire (火)”, “forest (森)”, “woods (林)”, “ox (牛)” and “sheep (羊)” as practice targets. The students, a little shy at first, soon became immersed in the ink and brushes, and many excitedly showed their neatly written characters to their peers.
In the tea art class for second-year students, the atmosphere was even more animated. Students who had studied Chinese for two years sat together, observed the different colours and aromas of green tea, black tea and oolong tea, experienced the process of brewing tea with their own hands, and learned the “finger-tapping etiquette” (kou zhi li), understanding the implicit expressions behind tea-table manners.
The liveliest moment came during the tea-tasting session. The students carefully compared the taste differences among the three types of tea and discussed which one suited their palate best. Unexpectedly, almost all of them voted for black tea--because they found it tasted like chocolate.
Through these relaxed and enjoyable experiences, Chinese culture was no longer just knowledge from textbooks, but a real, tangible and tasteable experience.
During the event, the Chinese Director of the CI also held exchanges with the principal of Liceo Giulietta Masina and the head of the Chinese language programme. The two sides reviewed their recent cooperation in Chinese teaching and cultural activities, and exchanged commemorative gifts. The school expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the long-standing support provided by the CI in Chinese language teaching and cultural promotion, and expressed hope for further cooperation in the future. The Chinese Director also thanked the school for its continuous support of the Chinese language programme, and looked forward to working together continuously to deepen Chinese language education and people-to-people exchanges.
In the future, the CI will continue to adapt to local teaching realities, innovate forms of cultural communication, and promote deeper integration of Chinese language education and cultural experiences into schools, bringing them closer to young people.
