1. Students    from Our Confucius Institute win the first two place in the Seventh 'the
   Linguist-2013' Foreign Language    Competition in Russia

Recently,    the Seventh 'the Linguist-2013' Foreign Language Competition in Russian    held in the Youth Center of Republic of Tatarstan. More than 150    undergraduates and postgraduates in 27 colleges and universities from the    whole country attended this competition. Our Confucius Institute student    Julia Supra won the single champion in Chinese, together with Razmia    Fitzdalowa won the second place in professional team.
As a traditional competition only held in the colleges and    universities in the Republic of Tatarstan , the competition    contains European language alone. This year, because of the participation    of the Organization Committee of 2013 Kazan Universiade and the College    Students' Association of Republic of Tatarstan, this competition has been    spread all over the whole country of Russia. Under the effort of the    principles from our Confucius Institute, Chinese has been added as a item    in professional competition.
   In the competition, it has two types: X+English    (professional team) and English+X (nonprofessional team). All the    competitors must master two kinds of foreign language, English is the compulsory    language.
   The winner can acquire the qualification as a volunteer of Universiade 2013    in Kazan.

2. Winners of    Confucius Institute Scholarship Took a Cultural Fieldtrip in Zhang Jiajie

   During April 4th to 28th, under the support of NOCFL, Office of    International Exchange and Cooperation organized the winners of Confucius    Institute Scholarship to have a cultural trip to Zhang Jiajie, a notable    tourist attraction in China.

   More than 30 overseas students from 5 five countries including Russia,    Korea, Vietnam and so forth visited Tianzi Mountain, Baofeng Lake, Yellow    Dragon Cave, etc. They are deeply appealed to the charisma of this world    cultural heritage. The magnificent views left an unforgettable impression    upon the overseas students.

   Through the explanation of leading teachers and tour guide, the overseas    students had a profound understanding of the folk custom and history of    minorities in western Hunan. They said they had benefited a lot from this    experience. Honmaketu from Japan said that the Yellow Dragon Cave attracted    him the most. It was the first time she had seen such a huge karst cave and    she really marveled at the grandeur of the great nature.

Translated by    Zhang Xi / Edited by Peng Peigen  

3. Chinese    Cultural Camp Initiated

   On July 1st, Confucius Institute of Russian Kazan (Volga) Federal    University initiated its Chinese Cultural Camp themed on "China¡¤Hunan    Exploration" in the school Office Building. The Camp is co-hosted by    Hanban(Confucius Institute Headquarters) and Hunan Normal University. Zhou    Junwu, vice president of HNU, gave a remark in the initiation ceremony.    Also present at the ceremony were: Li Lanyi, Dean of Confucius Institute of    Kazan (Volga) Federal University), Urazmetova Azaliya and Smagina Innesa,    teachers of Kazan NO.18 High School, and staff from HNU Foreign Studies    College and International College of Chinese Language and Culture. The    ceremony was hosted by Tang Jianwen, Director of the Office of    International Exchange and Cooperation.

   Zhou Junwu expressed his warm welcome to the students attending this year's    camp. He noted that, since establishing partnership in 1990, the two    schools have based the partnership on the principle of friendship and    cooperation and have thus achieved remarkable achievements in    teacher/student exchanges as well as cooperative scientific researches. He    hoped that, in the following 14days, the students will focus on studying    the deep and broad Chinese culture and become future ambassadors of    China-Russia friendship and future introducers of Hunan culture in Russia.

   Li Lanyi, on behalf of Confucius Institute of Russian Kazan (Volga) Federal    University, expressed her hearty appreciation for the efforts HNU has put    into organizing this camp. She noted that it was the first time for many of    the Russian students to come to China, she hoped the students could    experience the unique charm of Chinese culture and promote China-Russia    cultural exchange in the future.
   Other speakers in the ceremony include teacher and student representatives,    who expressed their high expectations on the coming summer camp and their    hope that the activity be a great success.
   Finally, Zhou Junwu gave the summer-camp souvenirs to the students.