AUCKLAND, New Zealand, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A prize-giving ceremony for Chinese proficiency of secondary school students was hosted by the Confucious Institute in Auckland on the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday.

The 16th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition, held first time in person since the pandemic, attracted more than 100 students from 20 schools in Auckland.

Three third-place awards, two second-place awards and one first-place award were presented to junior and senior student groups at the prize-giving ceremony.

Colden Sapir, the first-place winner from the senior student group, said in his speech that learning Chinese has allowed him to try delicious Chinese food, make friends with Chinese people, and broadened his knowledge base.

"I encourage all Chinese language learners to keep pursuing your dream in Chinese and be persistent. Your hard work will pay off, and you are living up to your youth," said Sapir.

Chinese Consul-General in Auckland Chen Shijie encouraged the contestants to practice Chinese and stay passionate about the Chinese language and culture.

"As the theme of this competition goes, 'fly high with Chinese,' one day, you will fly high enough to become envoys of China-New Zealand friendship!" said Chen.

"This is what Global Civilization Initiative is all about. We seek wisdom and nourishment from different civilizations, learn from each other's strengths, and make progress together so that exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations will become the driving force for the progress of human society and the bond for maintaining world peace," said the consul general.

Through this event, China's cultural heritage and traditions are shared with Kiwi friends. Bit by bit, this kind of cultural exchange will lay a solid foundation for friendly cooperation between China and New Zealand, Chen said.

Patrick English, a member of the Confucius Institute in Auckland Advisory Board, said in his speech that in this day of AI, things could be translated or interpreted in a second, but that's no guarantee of understanding and comprehension.

"Maori has a saying: 'He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata,' meaning 'What is the most important thing in the world? It is about people, it is people, and it is people,'" said English, noting that the heart of the Confucious Institute in New Zealand is language and learning.

Cultural performances by Mandarin language assistants from the Confucius Institute in Auckland, introduction videos of the Dragon Boat Festival and traditional food Zongzi, or glutinous rice dumplings, were staged to celebrate the festive occasions. Enditem

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