Art competition aims to boost China, Hungary youth exchanges

WUHAN, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The award ceremony of the "One Step" Chinese-Hungarian Drawing Competition was held both offline and online simultaneously in central China's Hubei and Henan provinces and Hungary's Gyor-Moson-Sopron County on Tuesday.

The event, which attracted nearly 100 participants including students, teachers and government representatives, was jointly held by the respective local governments.

It was aimed at deepening the friendship between China and Hungary through friendly exchanges between teenagers, according to the organizing committee in Hubei.

From March to May 2022, students from middle schools in China's Hubei and Henan provinces and Gyor-Moson-Sopron County of Hungary submitted more than 120 creative works themed on bilateral friendship, inventions of the two countries and environmental protection.

Huang Shihui from Xianning Xiangcheng Middle School in Hubei Province won the first prize for her painting "China in the Rubik's cube." Her work features a huge Rubik's cube occupying a tableau, with things that embody Chinese history and contemporary development, such as a compass, traditional Chinese medicine book, the Great Wall, FAST telescope and Shenzhou spaceship, painted in each square of the cube.

"The Rubik's cube was invented in Hungary. I want to introduce China to Hungarian friends through their familiar piece of invention," Huang said, adding that she hopes her painting can help deepen the friendship between the two peoples.

Fanni Kotrics-Szabo also won the first prize. Speaking at the award ceremony in Gyor-Moson-Sopron, she said she likes Chinese culture, so she decided to take part in this competition. "I'm so proud of my work and I will continue to create more paintings."

Hubei and Gyor-Moson-Sopron forged "sisterhood ties" in 2014, and various bilateral exchanges and cooperation initiatives, including the building of a section of the Hungry-Serbia Railway and student exchange programs, have been carried out.

"The painting competition has built a bridge for communication between young people in China and Hungary," said Zhao Haishan, vice governor of Hubei, at the awarding ceremony, vowing to carry out more exchanges to enhance mutual understanding and friendship.