Confucius Institute launches children’s guide to Chinese Culture

An international audience, including representatives from Welsh Government, Cardiff University and the British Council, gathered in Cardiff on Monday to launch a new book for children which celebrates Chinese culture.

The launch was hosted by Cardiff University for the book, "A children's guide to Chinese Culture" which was written by Professor Fu Siyi of Xiamen University, China and published by Sinolingua Publishing.

Professor Siyi Fu was previously seconded to the University as Academic Director of the Confucius Institute, which promotes Chinese language and culture in Wales and supports collaboration between the two countries..

Schools from across Wales attended the event which took place at St David's Hotel. The afternoon was an opportunity to hear about the new book and bring teachers together to share ideas on how Chinese culture can be taught in schools in the UK.

Professor Fu explained that her book "offers young learners the opportunity to explore China and its culture in a fun and engaging way and demonstrates how the teaching of Chinese culture can be incorporated into Chinese learning in schools." After speeches from Professor Fu and Nia Jones of CILT Cymru attendees enjoyed a dance routine by pupils from Lansdowne Primary School who performed 'Little Apple', a Chinese square dance which gained popularity in Chinese cyberspace last year.

After the dance performance tutors Fanzhi Yang and Li Peng performed a Chinese teaching demonstration for attendees to bring the ideas expressed in Professor Fu's book to life.

Dr Catherine Chabert, Executive Director at Cardiff Confucius Institute said of the event, "One of the key aims of the Confucius Institute is to aid Primary and Secondary students in Wales to step beyond their own culture and their own language to embark on what can be a life changing experience – language learning."