Huge success for Leeds Students in the 2024 Chinese Bridge Competition

On Thursday 6th June, two Leeds students took part in the 21st Edition of the Chinese Bridge Competition in London. Francesca Pala (Chinese name 方可心) reached the final and won three different prizes: Most Eloquent Award, Most Popular Contestant and second place in the competition overall.

What is the Chinese Bridge Competition? 

The Chinese Bridge is an international competition that promotes understanding of Chinese culture and language. It is organised every year by the Confucius Institute Headquarters. This year, contestants were judged on a self-introduction talk, an artistic performance and a quiz of general knowledge about China.

Those who made it to the final rounds got to perform again in front of distinguished guests including members of the Chinese Embassy to London as well as academics from prestigious universities across the UK.

It is always an honour for the Business Confucius Institute (BCI) at the University of Leeds to take part in this competition that promotes cross-cultural understanding and to showcase the great work of our students and our team. 

Our contestants 

This year two students represented the University of Leeds in the Chinese Bridge UK finals.  

Sophie Kelly is currently studying a Masters in International Relations at Leeds University Business School and previously completed a Chinese Studies BA in Durham. Her long-standing passion for Chinese culture and language kept her motivated during the preparation for the competition. Sophie staged a great traditional Chinese paper cutting performance and obtained the Participation Award in the semi-finals. 

Francesca Pala is in the 3rd year of her undergraduate degree in Chinese and International Relations in the East Asian Studies Department. Her remarkable Chinese abilities allowed her to make it to the final stage of the competition where she performed a talk show to the crowd’s delight. She also passed the Chinese general knowledge quiz with flying colours, answering questions about Chinese language, culture, and philosophy without any hesitation.  

Award-winning performances 

After making it through to the competition finals, Francesca came away with second place overall and a handful of certificates!

Her outstanding Chinese skills also earned her the Most Eloquent Contestant Award. For her self-introduction talk, Francesca compared the similarities between Chinese tea and Italy’s coffee culture, showcasing the importance of culinary traditions in both these countries. Her talk show performance featured numerous jokes in Chinese and humorously talked about the difficulties she encountered when learning Chinese.

Francesca's warm and talkative personality also captivated the audience, and she won the public vote to obtain the Most Popular Contestant Award, which also means she will get the opportunity to work in collaboration with the London office as a Travel Ambassador for China. 

Watch Francesca's speech and performance on Youtube.

Success for the University of Leeds and the BCI  

Tutors from the BCI and the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Leeds are delighted to see Francesca's success. 

Francesca spent weeks preparing and rehearsing her performance, receiving the support of our head teacher, Xiaolong Liu, and teachers Meifang Tu and Chang Lu.  

Meifang Tu said:

可心 is an outstanding student and she deserves this recognition! She has displayed such enthusiasm and diligence throughout the entirety of the preparation and never failed to surprise us by how quickly she improved. Her performance on stage was brimming with her love for Chinese, and I am convinced that she will keep on outdoing herself during her Chinese-learning journey.

At the end of the competition, Francesca expressed her gratitude to all the BCI team and tutors from the East Asian Department who have supported her throughout the year. She explained that the wonderful teaching of Ying Peng, her main Chinese lecturer, and the guidance of the BCI turned the Chinese Bridge Competition into a fabulous opportunity! 

During the evening, Francesca was interviewed by various news outlets, including CCTV, during which they asked her questions about her Chinese learning journey, her interest in Chinese culture and her future plans.

We are sure that both Francesca and Sophie have bright futures ahead of them!

Read more

This CGTN news report features a video with clips from interviews with contestants. Have a look to see Francesca speaking fluently about her love for China and Chinese!