On the evening of October 17, 2023, the Chinese Embassy in the United States held a premiere of the documentary “Chinese Puzzle”. Ambassador Xie Feng attended the event and delivered remarks. More than 400 guests attended the premiere, including representatives of those featured in the documentary and their families, students from Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, Sidwell Friends School, National Cathedral School, St. Albans School, Landon School, Baltimore International Academy, Hardy Middle School, Centennial High School and Meade Senior High School and their parents, and friends from other sectors.
Ambassador Xie welcomed representatives of the interviewees in the documentary and Chinese-studying students from local elementary, middle and high schools to the premiere. He also expressed his heartfelt thanks to all the teachers, volunteers and advocates of Chinese teaching in the United States. Ambassador Xie pointed out that Chinese is the most spoken language globally, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. As China deepens its exchanges with the rest of the world, its language is becoming an increasingly important tool for international communication. Today, Chinese is being taught in more than 180 countries and regions, with over 20 million learners. Altogether, 200 million non-Chinese have been learning and using the language. Studying Chinese is to enrich oneself, seize more opportunities and embrace the future. It will not only open up infinite possibilities, but also usher one into the over 5,000-year-old Chinese history and the spiritual world of the Chinese people. International Senior School
By playing word guess and explaining idioms and proverbs, Ambassador Xie interacted cordially and explored the unique charm of the Chinese language with the American students present. In decoding Chinese characters such as “人” (human), “信” (credibility) and “武” (weapon), Ambassador Xie vividly illustrated how much the Chinese people value win-win cooperation, credibility and peace. Through interpreting idioms including “三人成虎” (three men make a tiger), “水滴石穿” (dripping water hollows out a stone) and “同舟共济” (pull together since all are in the same boat), Ambassador Xie stressed that in handling China-U.S. relations, it is also important to avoid falling prey to misperception, show persistence, and pull together as partners, so as to gradually find the right way for the two countries to get along in the new era. By citing Chinese and English proverbs conveying the same or similar message, Ambassador Xie pointed out that the many unlikely friends in Chinese and English prove once again that both the Chinese and American peoples are talented peoples, and for all our differences in culture, there are striking similarities between us too. Captivated by the beauty of Chinese, the kids competed to guess the word puzzles enthusiastically. The witty proverbs received rounds of laughter and applause. And the relevance of the idioms for the China-U.S. relationship gave the audience both a good laugh and some food for thought.
Some interviewees in the documentary shared with the audience their stories with the Chinese language. Former Utah State Senator Howard Stephenson and Professor of Chinese Language at the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Ohio State University Galal Walker shared their thoughts about Chinese teaching and learning. Regarding monolingualism as the illiteracy of the 21st century, they said that learning Chinese has broadened their horizons and enriched their life. Former President of the China Institute He Zhiming and pop singer Slater Rhea shared stories about how Chinese helped them in cross-cultural communication. They said that Chinese has helped them overcome language barriers and build a bridge of cultural exchanges between China and the United States.
During the premiere, fourth-grade student at International Leadership of Texas Hao Tiantian performed the tongue twisters “吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮” and “红鲤鱼绿鲤鱼与驴”, and many other children also showed their skills with Chinese tongue twisters. Fifth-grade student at Yinghua Academy Ka Yutong took part in the “Feihua Ling” session by reciting five poems with the character “山” (mountain) and led the children to recite the Tang poem “On the Stork Tower”. The choir of Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School and the students of the Embassy’s Sunshine School sang the Chinese song “You are beautiful when you smile” and performed a traditional Chinese dance “kung fu fan”. Teachers and students of Middle Tennessee State University played the traditional Chinese flute song “Happy Encounter”. Slater Rhea sang the songs “Hong Yan” and “Guo Jia”. The audience burst into applause and cheers for the exciting performance. The guests also enjoyed Chinese delicacies, got an immersive experience of the Chinese culture through various programs such as calligraphy and Hanfu try-on, and reviewed people’s friendship between the two countries in a warm atmosphere.
The documentary “Chinese Puzzle” was produced by the Shanghai Media Group after traveling across 15 American states over half a year and interviewing more than 40 Americans deeply involved in the learning and teaching of the Chinese language and culture. It is the first documentary to present a panoramic picture of the history, the current situation and changes of Chinese teaching and learning in the United States.
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