Angolan youth relish chance to display knowledge of Chinese culture

LUANDA — Wearing traditional Chinese clothes, more than 50 students from a university in Angola participated in a competition to showcase their knowledge about Chinese culture.

During the first recitation competition on Chinese literature held by the Confucius Institute at Agostinho Neto University, students on Saturday recited pieces by heart from the ancient Analects of Confucius, dating back more than 2,400 years, to contemporary Chinese poetry. Their performances impressed audiences from all walks of life in Angola.

In his opening speech, Pedro Magalhaes, rector of the Agostinho Neto University, hailed the event as a grand cultural gathering. He emphasized that poetry and music are the most potent forms of global communication, and the students from the Confucius Institute symbolize the cultural exchange between Angola and China.

In the performances, the students combined dance and singing with traditional Chinese martial arts, demonstrating their enthusiasm for learning the Chinese language.

Caetano Wissa, who has just started his study at the Confucius Institute, expresses his passion for learning the Chinese language, saying his enthusiasm stems from his desire to pursue a university education in China and seize career opportunities.

"There are many Chinese people in Angola, and I expect to work with them as a translator in these Chinese companies," he says.

"This event aims to enrich the cultural experiences of the youth," says the rector. He emphasized the strong ties between Angola and China and highlighted the responsibility of Angolan universities to foster closer connections between the two nations.

Ren Bing, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the university, says that his institute has provided training courses for more than 2,000 local students in the past seven years, and there are 200 Angolan youth studying Chinese at the institute.

"Chinese is not a difficult language, and through this event, we provide students with an opportunity to showcase their abilities, arouse their interest in learning Chinese, and encourage them to pursue their studies," Ren says.