I.  Purpose

The purpose of the competition is to further promote China's influence on the teaching of Chinese language worldwide based on the success of previous events. It is also aimed at fully demonstrating a unitary, harmonious and developed China jointly constructed by 56 nationalities and introducing the diverse customs and cultures of the many ethnic groups in China. It helps to motivate young foreign students' enthusiasm for learning Chinese language and to enhance their understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

II. Name of the Competition

Chinese Name:第五届"汉语桥"世界大学生中文比赛

English Name:The 5^th Chinese Bridge－－Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students

III. Theme

Chinese Theme:多民族的中国

English Theme:An Ethnically Diverse China  

IV. The Sponsor and Responsible Organizations

Sponsor: China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Hanban).

Responsible Organizations: China National Youth Palace Association

V.   The Organizing Body

The Sponsor will establish the Organizing Committee for the "Chinese Bridge"–Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students. An Executive Committee will be set up under the Organizing Committee.

VI. Participation (50 countries, 65 Chinese embassies and consular missions, 100 competitors in total)

1.        Asia (17 countries): the Republic of Korea, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo), Singapore, Mongolia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City), Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

2.        America (4 countries): the United States (Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco), Canada (Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto), Mexico and Argentine.

3.        Europe (21 countries): Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia (Moscow, S.t.Petersburg, Khabarovsk), Belarus, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Austria,Hungary, Latvia ,Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland;

4.        Oceania (2 countries): Australia (Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne), and New Zealand.

5.  Africa (6 countries): Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, Cameroon, Sudan and Kenya.

VII. Eligible participants

Eligible participants should be: undergraduate or postgraduate Students from universities or colleges outside China; less than 30 years old; non-Chinese/overseas Chinese or children of overseas Chinese students who were born and brought up outside China and whose first language is not Chinese.

VIII. Content and form of the Competition

1． Content

  (1)Chinese language skills.

(2)Knowledge about China (Possible test questions and their answers will be posted on Hanban's website -www.hanban.edu.cn.) Reference could be found on five most popular Chinese websites: www.china.org.cn, www.xinhuanet.com.cn, www.peopledaily.com.cn, www.cri.com.cn, www.chinadaily.com.cn ).

(3)Chinese cultural skills (e.g. Chinese songs, dances, operas,

 musical instruments, calligraphy, painting, paper cutting and martial arts, etc).

2． Forms:

The competition includes the preliminary one and final one.

The preliminaries will be held outside China. It will be co-organized by the educational and cultural section of Chinese embassies (consular missions) abroad along with the Chinese language teaching staff sent by China and relevant universities and colleges in the countries concerned. The size and form of the preliminary test will be determined by the organizer of the individual participating country.

After the preliminaries, each organizer will recommend the top one or two contestants to the Organizing Committee. The Organizing Committee will select 100 contestants to come to China to attend the final contest (It is impossible for all the recommended contestants to come to China to compete). The round trip travel expenses, as well as the expenses of hotel accommodations and travel in China of the final contestants will be covered by Hanban.

The final contest will be held in Beijing.

 

IX. The Schedule

The competition is composed of three stages:

The first stage:    from March 1^st to May 30^th 2006, the preliminaries will be held outside.

The second stage:      from June 1^st to June 15^th , the final contestants will be examined and confirmed.

The third stage:    from July 19^th to July 29^th , the final contest will be held.

The final is composed of two parts: "the main contest" and "the theme activities", which will be held in Beijing and Yunnan respectively. It will include the opening ceremony, the final contest, the awarding ceremony and a special program for Happy Dictionary of CCTV.

In order to further promote the Chinese Bridge Competition both within and outside China, the Organizing Committee will seek sponsorship from large domestic and overseas enterprises for Theme Activities such as a get-together evening party between Chinese and foreign youth.

X.  Prizes, Award Criteria, and Rewards:

1．Prizes:

(1)       There will be three first-prize winners, five second-prize winners and seven third- prize winners. 

(2)       There will be each winner for the Best Presentation Award, Best Scholarship Award, Best Performance Award, Best Charisma Award.

(3)       There will be several honorable-mention awards.

2．Award Criteria:

The first, second and third prize winners will be selected from all the final contestants. All final contestants will be awarded honorable-mention title.

3．Rewards

First-prize winners will receive a full scholarship to study for a degree program in China (It will be valid within three years from 2007 on) and round trip air tickets. And they will be granted the title "Chinese Language Envoy".

Second-prize winners will receive a scholarship for a 4-6 week study and training program in China during summer vacation in 2007 with round trip air tickets.

Third-prize winners will receive a scholarship for a 15-day China Culture Tour during summer vacation in 2007 with round trip air tickets.

Best Presentation Award, Best Scholarship Award, Best Performance Award and Best Charisma Award winners will be awarded the prize cups and corresponding prizes.

Honorable-mention winners will receive corresponding prizes.

All final contestants will be granted commemorative certificates.

XI.  Judgment

The judges in the preliminaries should be determined by the organizers from the participating countries.  In the final contest, the organizer will invite experts from language, cultural and arts areas to form a panel to make on-the-spot judgment.