On December 22, the Confucius Institute hosted an awards ceremony for participants of the traditional creative works competition, dedicated to the national holiday of the People's Republic of China. The competition included students from schools, lyceums, and gymnasiums of the city of Gomel, as well as students from our university. Whether as Confucius Institute students or future sinologists majoring in philology, they not only dedicatedly study the Chinese language but also actively engage with the rich culture of China.
In total, about thirty works were submitted for the competition, the content and presentation of which were assessable online by not only course participants but also their relatives and friends.
The majority of the entries consisted of drawings and watercolor paintings. For instance, the pieces by Polina Novak, Sofia Klincova, Ekaterina Mikhailova, Elizaveta Kolesnikova, and Maria Yermukova, students of L.S. Vygotsky Gomel State Pedagogical College, reflected the unique nature, architecture, and traditional rituals of China. Similar themes were also depicted in the artworks of Arina Safinskaya (Gymnasium No. 46) and Milana Melnikova (School No. 27).
The handcrafted items created by the competition participants also garnered special attention, including a "talking" dragon head equipped with touch-sensitive electronic control (Ulyana Bredikhina), a composition "Chinese House" made of cardboard, glass, and plastic (Aleksandra Nikolaeva), a 3D clay portrayal of "Red Dragon" (Vlada Zyuleva, a student of the faculty of Philology), a panda bear crafted from yarn and paper (Yelena Potorocha), and an embroidered fabric featuring the Chinese character for "peace" (Yekaterina Guzhavina, a student of the faculty of Philology).
The computer presentations of the participants also received attention, such as "History of Chinese Tea" (Vitaliy Romanyuk, a history faculty student), "The Image of the Tortoise in Chinese Folktales" (Valeriya Kolos and Aleksandra Maksimenko, philology faculty students), and the videos they produced, "Pearls of China" (Polina Novak, L.S. Vygotsky Gomel State Pedagogical College), "The Great Silk Road" (Igor Loy), and "The Dance of Yao" (Eva Novikova).
There is no doubt that equally interesting exhibits reflecting the history and culture of China will be presented at the competition in the coming year, as the People's Republic of China celebrates its 75th anniversary.