On the 9th of May ', Chinese Bridge' Competition was held in Lithuania for the very first time at Vilnius University. 'Chinese Bridge' is a large-scale Chinese language competition for university students sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban).
It was held in 2002 for the first time and since then around 400 000 students from over 90 countries have participated in national competitions worldwide. Among them, over 1300 winning students from each country have had the chance to compete in the 'Chinese Bridge' semi-finals and finals in China.
The mission of the 'Chinese Bridge' competition is to encourage students from all over the globe to study Chinese language and culture, and to deepen the knowledge of the Chinese culture worldwide.
Besides demonstrating their language skills and cultural knowledge, the contestants took part in a talent show. Students from three universities (Vilnius University, Vytautas Magnus University, and Mykolas Romeris University) showed their calligraphy, poetry reading, singing, and guitar skills. Andrius Vilkas who is in his third year studying at the Centre for Asia Studies at Vytautas Magnus University won the first Lithuanian 'Chinese Bridge' Competition. Giedrius Sapokas and Vykintas Narkevicius, both studying at the Centre of Oriental Studies at Vilnius University, came second and third respectively. The winner was congratulated by the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China HE Wei Ruixing.
The very first Lithuanian 'Chinese Bridge' Competition which offers students the chance to visit China and receive a scholarship for continuing their studies in China was organized by the VU Confucius Institute and financed by the embassy of the People's Republic of China.
