A distance of a thousand miles is made closer when the heart is blended----Panama Chinese Culture Seminar Successfully Completed
In April, the springtime in Beijing was warm and willowy; across the ocean, Panama was also breezy and vibrant. Over 15,000 kilometers apart, across a 13-hour time difference, and after two weeks of meeting online, we celebrated the last day of the Chinese Cultural Seminar in Panama.
On April 25, 2022 at 9:00 pm Beijing time (April 25, 8:00 am Panama time), the seminar ceremony was held in the Multi-functional Hall of Beijing International Chinese College (BICC). Mr. Chen Runyun, Vice Chairman of the Academy for International Business Officials of the Ministry of Commerce, and Mr. Zhou Quan, Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Department of the Chinese Embassy in Panama, attended the ceremony on line and delivered speeches. Ms. Yao Xiaoying, Director of the Academic Affairs Department, hosted the ceremony. The opening ceremony was held in the form of online simultaneous interpretation. We will continue to sum up our experience in order to present better results in online events.
This seminar lasted 14 days and was attended by a total of 42 participants from Panama. On the whole, the colourful lectures and seminars were well received by the participants, who expressed great satisfaction with the overall implementation of the programme. The seminar achieved all the objectives and demonstrated the significance of the China-aid foreign project.
Mr. JUAN ANTONIO LASSO NUÉZ, Vice President of the University of the Americas, and Mr. ALEJANDRO ARCHBOLD, Head of Department of the Ministry of Public Administration of Panama, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the organizers and hosts in their speeches. They said that the seminar was a rare opportunity for them not only to learn Chinese language and experience Chinese culture, but also to have a deeper understanding and knowledge of China, which is very meaningful to promote mutual understanding and support between China and Panama. Mr. JUAN ANTONIO LASSO NUÉZ highly appreciated the course arranged, saying, "What attracted me most in this seminar were the contents related to diplomacy, history and the Chinese situation, which are very useful for my work." Mr ALEJANDRO ARCHBOLD expressed his gratitude for the seminar with these moving words: "I would like to thank the team who organized the seminar and the team of teachers who shared their knowledge of Chinese history, culture, art, calligraphy and socio-economics with our friend, China, all of whom worked with great dedication. On behalf of my home country, Panama, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the staff of this seminar and my heartfelt congratulations for the success of this seminar."
This seminar on Chinese culture in Panama was hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and organized by Beijing International Chinese College (BICC), aiming to help Panamanian officials better understand and know China through cultural exchanges and academic seminars, so as to promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two sides. This is the fourth time that BICC has successfully hosted a bilateral human resources training programme for Panama. Due to the COVID-19, this seminar was implemented online and a total of 42 Panamanian officials participated in this seminar. Through the two-week learning courses, the participants gained a better understanding of the basic situation of China and Chinese traditional culture; through the practical Chinese course, the participants mastered the basic Hanyu Pinyin spelling, basic life conversations, challenged the fun tongue twister "four and ten", learned to sing the Chinese song "Sweet Honey", and also had their own Chinese names, which greatly stimulated their interest in learning Chinese.
Overview of China's National Situation
Associate Professor Zhou Xiaomei, Beijing International Chinese College
Practical Chinese
Associate Professor Shanshan Qin, Beijing International Chinese College
Chinese Diplomacy and China-Panama Relations Researcher
Xu Shicheng, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Chinese Tourism Culture
Professor Liu Aifu, Beijing Union University
Chinese Peking Opera Culture
Associate Professor Shi Hong, Beijing International Chinese College
Chinese Calligraphy Culture
Associate Professor Cui Can, Beijing International Chinese College
During the seminar, we arranged a variety of cultural experience courses for the participants, such as calligraphy experience, paper-cutting experience and Beijing opera face painting DIY experience. After the course, the participants were keen to show us their work in front of the camera and said that these traditional Chinese cultures are very fascinating and that they would definitely like to come to China to experience them again when they have the chance.
Is my panda cute？
Look at my facial makeup！
During these two weeks, we could see the students listening and interacting in the classroom every day, and we could also see their love for China through their positive performance in the classroom. Despite the huge time difference of 13 hours between China and Panama, and the fact that the lessons are scheduled for early morning and late at night, we still see ZULEIKA's bright and lively smile in the live classroom every day, ANA taking notes in every lesson to consolidate the exercises, MARYORIS often raising her hand to participate in the live classroom, AGUSTÍN completing the assignments given by the teacher every time, and DIYSTÍN completing the assignments given by the teacher every time. DIOSA is always shy and cute when doing phonetic exercises in Chinese class. Towards the end of the seminar, OLINDA brought a little surprise to our team: she played the Chinese classic folk song "Jasmine Flower" on the violin as a token of her love for the seminar and for China. Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the seminar in these pictures.
During these two weeks, each participant has written a wonderful story of friendship between China and Panama. "A distance of a thousand miles is made closer when the heart is blended", and from 2018 to 2022, through four Panama bilateral projects, our friendship across the oceans has been further deepened. Now that spring has arrived in Beijing, and everything is reviving and blooming, I look forward to the time when we can say goodbye to the internet, meet in person and write a new chapter of friendship together in Beijing!