Peking University, Beijing, Oct. 14, 2009: With the theme of “Language, Culture, Tourism”, the 6th annual International Cultural Festival (ICF) unveils at Peking University (PKU) after a careful preparation during the past six months. This year’s ICF will last nearly one month and envelops a series of 17 activities, during which the opening ceremony, exhibition, and literature performances at the square of PKU Hall on October 25 will attract the most attention. This festival also sets records in the number of activities and duration among the past festivals.
The PKU ICF is an exhibition platform of PKU international exchange and cooperation, which has become an important campus activity over the years. With five years’ successful hosting experience, the festival has gained a huge response from both the PKU students from home and aboard and the society. It also has become a window for people to know PKU and the world and has been supported by Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, China Scholarship Council, Chinese Language Council International, and Beijing government.
Due to the fact that 2010 will be the 60th anniversary of international students studying in China, the ICF management council chose “Language Culture Tourism” as its theme. As a long-standing PKU activity, big innovations in the schedule and contents of the activities have been made to the festival this year in order to exhibit the PKU international campus atmosphere of confidence, openness, and inclusiveness. From September 17 to October 25, the series activities of this festival have been held one after another. Currently, the PKU International Students Singing Competition opened on September 24th, while the PKU International Students Speech Competition will begin on October 11th.
Compared with previous years, this festival selects “language and culture” as the entry point to correspond to the time background of promoting international students’ education and Chinese language education in China. In the mean time, it also cooperates with the Haidian District Government to promote cultural exchange. The attendance of world-level professional organizations is another highlight during this festival, such as the exciting performances by Folk Ensemble Martisorul-Romania and Xinya Kongqi Chamber music band. Through these rich and diverse activities of the festival, they want the youth from different countries to understand the history and tradition of a race through language, and then to review and apperceive the diverse cultures under the background of globalization.
The festival is mainly divided into three parts - exhibitions, activities, and performances. In addition to the opening ceremony, literature performances, and theme garden party, there are also the Asia-Pacific Future Leader Forum, language culture lectures, International Students’ Calligraphy and Drawing Competition and Exhibition, food culture exhibition, International Students Singing Competition, and the International Students Speech Competition. In particular, the evening entertainment party, which will be held on October 24 at PKU, has become an important part of this festival, and it is also becoming a platform for the international students to express their well-wishing to China’s 60th founding anniversary through their performances.
Now that the preparation work of the 6th Annual International Cultural Festival has already concluded, more information can be obtained regarding the festivities from http://www.oir.pku.edu.cn/ICF2009/.
Translated by: Su Juan
Edited by: Jennifer Yan
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
