On the 17th and 18th, the campers of the Summer Camp visited the Forbidden City, the Imperial College, the Confucius Temple and the Temple of Heaven on a rainy day, and fully experienced the time-honoured Chinese culture. As the highlight of the trip to Beijing, they participated in the opening ceremony of the 3rd Central and Eastern European Confucius Institute Summer Camp, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters/Hanban, and bore witness to this moment of excitement with 760 campers from 28 Confucius Institutes in 15 countries.

On the 19th, the Hungarian group took a high-speed train, familiarly known as one of the four new inventions in China, and left Beijing for Shanghai. In the following days, the campers had a variety of Chinese knowledge and Chinese culture introductory courses as well as Chinese cultural experiencing and study activities. Under the careful arrangement and organization of the Office of Confucius Institutes at Shanghai International Studies University, the campers studied and gradually came to understand China's national conditions, its food culture, shopping, leisure and entertainment, and gained some hands-on experience with Tai Chi, clay sculpture, tea art and Chinese dumplings. To apply their knowledge acquired in the classroom to real life, the Hungarian campers went to such famous tourist attractions as the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Pudong Riverside Avenue, Shanghai Museum, the Yu Garden, the City God Temple, with a deeper understanding and better appreciation of the charm of a highly accommodating cosmopolitan city, noted for its diverse cultures and amazingly fast pace of development. On the 27th, at the closing ceremony, the campers shared their experiences and emotions during the summer camp activities in smooth and coherent Chinese. They expressed their love for China and Chinese culture, determined to make their due contributions to closer ties between China and Hungary. Finally, Dr. WANG Lei, the Chinese Director of SZTE CI, and Li Huijun, the leader of the Hungarian Summer Camp, presented certificates to the campers, on behalf of the organizer Shanghai International Studies University. At 0:00 on the 29th, packed full with meaningful gains and good impressions, the SZTE CI Summer Camp group went aboard a plane bound for Hungary.

The Summer Camp itinerary coincided with the heavy rains in Beijing and high temperature and typhoon in Shanghai, which somewhat affected the Summer Camp’s schedule, but with the careful planning and efficient organization by the Confucius Institute Headquarters and the Office of Confucius Institutes at Shanghai International Studies University, all activities were successfully held and the Summer Camp turned out to be a complete success. The campers have not only learned some practical Chinese, but also experienced the culture and customs of China and the cities where they stayed, which will certainly contribute to the friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

Report: LI Huijun

Photography: The Office of Confucius Institutes at Shanghai International Studies University, The Confucius Institute at Szeged University, Hungary