From July 16th to 17th, 2025, the 5th "Telling Chinese Stories in English" Chinese and foreign youth exhibition was held at the Grand Theater of the National Culture Palace in Beijing. Zhang Xueling, an Indonesian student from South China University of Technology, won the special prize in the advanced stage with her outstanding performance and successfully advanced to the stage of Chinese and foreign youth performances.
In the performance stage, Zhang Xueling stood out with her outstanding performance with her deep understanding of Chinese culture and artistic innovation, won the fourth place in the country, and was awarded the title of "Stage Star" of Chinese storytellers.
In the keynote speech session, Zhang Xueling shared her in-depth cultural experience in Luoyang with the title of "Hanfu: A Walking History Book". In the cold winter, she strolled through Yingtianmen and Kyushu Pond in Tang costumes, learned about the historical allusions behind Tang makeup in the explanation of professional makeup artists, and felt the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty in the light and shadow of ancient buildings. At that moment, she realized that "traditional culture is no longer an exhibit in a museum, but a wonderful journey that can be worn on the body." Dressed in well-designed costumes, she blended personal insights and historical details in her narration, presenting an immersive cultural narrative for the audience, which won high praise from the judges and the audience.
Zhang Xueling, who was deeply touched by the profound meaning of classical Chinese culture, made a stunning appearance in the talent display session with a dance "Luoyang Old Things", telling the legendary life of Li Li'er, the princess of Anle in the Tang Dynasty. She is dressed in gorgeous Hanfu, and her skirt shows the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. This dance perfectly integrated the colorful patterns of traditional Chinese costumes with the artistic essence of classical dance, and the judges and audience responded with warm applause.
After the Chinese and foreign youth performances, on July 17, the contestants of the "Telling Chinese Stories in English" from all over the world played the leading roles and participated in the award ceremony of "Chinese Stories" planned and recorded by China Education Television. Chinese and foreign contestants dedicated a number of wonderful programs such as bilingual recitation, creative opera performances, song singing, and interviews to jointly present a gathering of Chinese storytellers and show updated stories and a more beautiful China.
Zhang Xueling made a stunning appearance as a core actor, leading two major programs such as the opening dance, showing the profound heritage of Chinese culture and the charm of the times in multiple dimensions with smart dancing postures and delicate expressions. It is reported that after the event, many media such as China Education Television, CCTV, People's Daily (overseas version), and China Daily Network interviewed or reported on Zhang Xueling.
From the Tang costume experience in the ancient city of Luoyang to the brilliant blooming of the Beijing stage, Zhang Xueling's story is the epitome of this conference and a vivid footnote to cultural exchanges in the new era. As she said in an impromptu Q&A: "I hope I can become an envoy for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Indonesian civilizations, so that more people can understand and fall in love with China." Because civilization is rich because of exchanges, and civilization is colorful because of exchanges! Zhang Xueling's instructor and teacher Guo Ting from the School of International Education of South China University of Technology said: "Xueling's story not only shows China from the perspective of international students, but also breaks cultural barriers through 'experiential narrative'. She uses sincerity and details to let the world see that Chinese culture has both the weight of history and the vitality of modernity. ”
The contestants of our school have achieved good results in this conference, with 26 winners in the junior stage and 18 winners in the advanced stage, including 1 special prize, 1 first prize, 5 second prizes, 8 third prizes, and 3 excellence awards. Behind this series of honors, it embodies the hard work and unremitting efforts of teachers and students, which is not only the fruit of the diligent work of teachers and students, but also a vivid confirmation of the college's concept of "knowing China and friending China". The School of International Education of South China University of Technology has always been committed to cultivating compound talents with both international vision and Chinese feelings, and continues to build a bridge of multicultural mutual learning, empowering international students to become youth messengers of dialogue between Chinese and foreign civilizations.
It is reported that the 5th "Telling Chinese Stories in English" conference will open in November 2024, under the guidance of the Sino-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center, China Education Newspaper, and China Education International Exchange Association, and co-organized by the World Chinese Language Teaching Society, the British Council (BC), the American Educational Testing Service (ETS), and EDP Sciences Publishing House in France. It attracted more than 230,000 young people from all over the world to sign up. The conference set up four groups: high school group, university group, international student group in China and overseas group. Among them, the registration scale of the international student group in China reached a record high, attracting 4,366 international students from 269 universities and universities in 142 countries and regions around the world to participate.
