NCI hosts party celebrating successful youth delegation visit to China

17/5/2017

On the evening of 16th May, 20 students from Carlton Le Willows Academy and their families gathered at the Nottingham Confucius Institute (NCI) to celebrate their successful two-week visit to China during the Easter break.

The party began with a welcoming speech from Dr Jian Chen, Acting and Executive Director of NCI, who congratulated the young delegates on engaging with Chinese culture so actively and successfully. He emphasised how the trip has given not only the students, but also their families, a better understanding of various aspects of China and the day-to-day lives of families and children at school. “This is a great example of how NCI helps promote Sino-UK cultural ties and exchange,” said Dr Chen.

Mr Craig Weaver, Head Teacher of Carlton Le Willows Academy, gave a brief overview of the visit and thanked NCI and its Co-Director, Dr Jinrong Meng, for their effort in organising such a wonderful trip for him and all the students. A short video clip documenting their exciting visit was also played to rounds of applause from the audience.

Finally, the students shared accounts of their joyful experiences. One student told us: “The most unforgettable part of my visit was the table tennis matches I had with some of the Chinese students in Ningbo. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to make friends and practise my Mandarin”. All the students clearly gained hugely from the trip.

The table tennis youth delegation set off for China on 30th March and returned to the UK on 14th April after visiting Shanghai, Ningbo and Beijing. The delegation visit was organised by NCI and led by Dr Jinrong Meng and Mr Craig Weaver. More details of the visit can be found here.

~ENDS~

       当地时间5月16日晚上，顺利完成诺丁汉孔子学院精心组织的为期两周中国之行的卡尔顿·乐威乐（Carlton Le Willow Academy）乒乓球访华团应邀来孔子学院进行经验交流，二十多位青少年的家长也陪同参与。

      陈健院长首先在交流会上致欢迎辞，并对乒乓球访华团取得的丰硕交流成果进行了肯定，强调了亲身实地地去中国交流考察是获得对中国的完整认识的重要途径，由此，卡尔顿·乐威乐与诺丁汉孔子学院保持的长期密切合作意义重大，不仅让参与访华的二十多位青少年，乃至二十多个家庭对中国有了直观的认识，也丰富了与之进行乒乓球比赛的中国青少年对英国的认识，交流是双向的，也是共赢的，诺丁汉孔院在促进中英交流、传递中英友谊方面发挥了关键的作用。

      随后，卡尔顿·乐威乐中学的校长维沃·克雷格（Craig Weaver）对乒乓球访华团的中国之行进行了简短的概述，并由衷感谢了负责筹备组织该访华活动的孟金蓉女士。维沃校长还为大家播放了由同学们制作的精彩的行程纪录片，赢得了在场观众的阵阵掌声。

      最后，参与乒乓球访华活动的数位同学与大家进行了经验交流，其中夏洛特同学说道：“这次中国之行印象最深刻的是与宁波的青少年进行乒乓球比赛，这让我结识了很多新的中国朋友，而且，在与他们的交流中我的汉语也提高了很多。”