University of Leeds students Ahmad Elmouniery (谢炫明) and James Holmes (家松) will appear in the televised finals of the 18th International Chinese Bridge Competition. The series airs from 29 August until 12 September 2019 on Chinese channel Hunan TV.
The Chinese Bridge is an international Mandarin language competition organised every year by the Confucius Institute headquarters.
These TV appearances are the culmination of months of work by the two dedicated and enthusiastic students from the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Leeds, with support from their tutors at the Business Confucius Institute.
The world top 30 featured multiple competitors from Russia, Egypt and Australia, but Leeds was the only university with two contestants participating at that late stage.
When and where to watch
The top contestants from each continent battle it out this week for their place in next week’s finals. Those of us who are not in China will be able to follow along on the Chinese Bridge website and when episodes are uploaded to the Hunan TV official Youtube channel.
- 29 August, 9:00pm, 亚洲 (Yàzhōu – Asia) – watch online here
- 30 August, 9:00pm, 欧洲 (Ōuzhōu – Europe) – watch online here (skip to 12:12 for James’ speech; 50:34 for Ahmad’s speech; 1:03:00 for James’ performance and 1:24:00 for Ahmad’s performance)
- 31 August, 9:00pm, 美洲, 大洋洲 (Měizhōu – the Americas, Dàyángzhōu – Australia/Oceania)
- 1 September, 9:00pm, 非洲 (Fēizhōu – Africa)
James and Ahmad will both appear in next week’s finals, and James progressed to the world top 15. These rounds air at 7:30pm on Mondays to Thursdays between 2 September and 12 September.
BCI tutors celebrate their students’ success
The Business Confucius Institute teaching team are very proud of these results.
Magic and Xuhui tutored James in the run up to the UK finals in March.
Magic said “Jiasong is an excellent student who works very hard. I enjoyed the time we spent together preparing for the UK competition. It was a delight to see him surpass himself again and again, grow in confidence on stage, and constantly surprise everyone. I’m very happy that James has done so well in the finals and hope he enjoys continued success in his Chinese learning.”
Xuhui said: “James seems shy when you meet him, but then his personality and sense of humour shine through. He is studious and conscientious – James wore Beijing Opera clothes outside in winter to perform for a video that we filmed together without any complaint!”
Jianan and Yuan coached Ahmad to second place in the UK finals and have been following his progress in China closely.
Jianan said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Ahmad. He was quite shy at first, but later we saw him bring one of the most complicated female characters in Chinese drama (Fanyu) to life in his stage performance. Ahmad has learnt a lot from the other contestants, and has enjoyed pushing himself in the competition. I know this experience will be beneficial for him in the future.”
Chinese Bridge contestants with their teachers and family after the 2019 UK finals
Learn more
If you are studying Chinese and may be interested in taking part in the Chinese Bridge Competition we would love to hear from you. Find more details on the Chinese Bridge page and fill in the form if you would like to register your interest.
View more photos from the competition on Facebook
TV schedule for the 18th Chinese Bridge Competition. The finals air on Mondays to Thursdays from 2 September to 12 September.
