Edited and translated by Huang Beibei, People's Daily Online
On November 18, 2012, the fifth "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition opened in Kunming. 102 high school students from 45 countries including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, dressed in national costumes of their countries featured debut. They also greeted the audience using standard Chinese.
Chinese Bridge (Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students) is a contest for foreign college students on their mastery of the Chinese language, promoted by Chinese National Hanban, established as a plan to introduce Chinese to the outside world. The contestants who won the opportunity to come to China for the competition are all champions selected from the local competitive masses all over the world.