On the morning of July 26, the closing ceremony of the 2026 "Chinese Bridge" Summer Camp for international students from the Confucius Institute at the University of San Marino was held at Teaching Building No. 1, Hangtiancheng Campus of Beijing City University (BCU). Participants from San Marino and Chinese volunteers gathered together to bring a successful conclusion to their two-week enriching journey. Ma Xinkai, the International Student Program Coordinator, all members of the San Marino delegation, and all Chinese volunteers attended the event.
The ceremony began with a review video of the summer camp. The footage showed the participants practicing pronunciation and engaging in lively discussions in Chinese classes, as well as their curiosity and excitement while making hawthorn pills and learning about the wisdom of "food as medicine." From gazing at the red walls of the Forbidden City to looking afar from the Great Wall, and strolling through Zhongguancun—every frame captured their transition from initial curiosity to gradual ease. This journey was not only a collision of language and culture, but also a warm two-way exchange.
During the speech session, Ma Xinkai fully acknowledged the participants' dedication and enthusiasm over the two weeks. He noted that the students not only demonstrated excellent learning abilities in class, but also actively observed and felt deeply during every field visit and cultural activity, making this cross-cultural dialogue vivid and authentic. Student representative Alia Cenni then took the stage and shared her heartfelt gains and emotions, expressing sincere gratitude to the teachers at BCU and the Confucius Institute at the University of San Marino. She mentioned that this summer camp allowed her to truly feel the warmth of the Chinese language and gave her a far deeper understanding of China beyond what books could offer. Subsequently, Liu Zhicheng, a Chinese student representative from the Translation program, shared his reflections. He said that every day spent with his San Marino partners was filled with novelty and emotion. This experience strengthened his belief that dialogue among youth is a natural bridge connecting different cultures, and he looked forward to growing together with more international friends through mutual learning.
At the end of the ceremony, all teachers and students took a group photo, marking a warm conclusion to the summer camp. The successful hosting of this event not only further narrowed the distance between young people from China and San Marino, but also accumulated new experience for BCU in expanding its international Chinese language education practices. The university will continue to build more platforms for people-to-people exchanges, enabling more international youth to come to China and understand it.
