14-yr-old student wins Chinese proficiency competition in Ireland

CORK, Ireland, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students (CPCFSSS) in Ireland was held here on Saturday, drawing dozens of contestants from all over the country.

Logan Bowdler Lennon, a 14-year-old student from Ireland's southern city of Waterford, won the first prize of the competition by beating all the other 25 competitors.

She will represent Ireland to participate in the grand final of the 16th CPCFSSS, an annual event which will be held in China later this year.

Saturday's competition consisted of three parts, namely a quiz to test contestants' knowledge about China, particularly about its language and culture, a speech competition to check their Chinese language ability and a talent show to demonstrate their Chinese artistic talents.

In the speech competition, participants were required to finish a speech with a topic chosen by themselves within two minutes.

The contents of the talent show included singing Chinese songs, performing Chinese dances, showcasing Chinese painting and Chinese character writing abilities as well as reciting Chinese poems and essays.

More than 100 people, including friends and family members of the contestants, watched the competition.

Derry Canty, representative of the Lord Mayor of Cork City and councillor of Cork City Council, Frank O'Flynn, vice mayor of Cork County, and Zhu Xikun, head of the Education Section of the Chinese embassy in Ireland, attended the event and awarded prizes to the winners.

"Cork City has developed and maintained strong relationships and links with our Sister City of Shanghai and our three partner cities of Hangzhou, Wuxi and Shenzhen. We are proud of our bonds with these Chinese cities and look forward to continuing this engagement in the months and years ahead," said Canty.

The competition was organized by the Chinese embassy in Ireland in partnership with the Confucius Institute at University College Cork.

There are three Confucius institutes in Ireland. The other two are in Dublin and Galway.