International Chinese Language Day kicks off in Beijing

The 2026 International Chinese Language Day, under the theme "Chinese: Sparking Colorful Dreams", was launched at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications on Monday. The event also marked the inaugural "Poetry Connects the World" — a Global Celebration of Classical Chinese Poetry.

Since its inception in 2020, International Chinese Language Day has grown into a major global cultural event. Over the past six years, more than 6,000 Chinese language and cultural activities have been organized by more than 1,000 educational and cultural institutions across over 160 countries, reaching more than 400 million participants. This year, over 1,000 events are scheduled to take place in more than 100 countries.

According to the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education, Chinese has been incorporated into the national education systems of 90 countries, and the number of people learning and using Chinese worldwide has approached 210 million.

Koula Sophianou, ambassador of Cyprus to China, drew parallels between Chinese and Greek, both languages spoken continuously for millennia.

"Language is the home of memory. It is the music of civilization," she said. Quoting the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium, she said, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we may listen more than we speak."

When a young person learns Chinese, they are not simply learning grammar. They are opening a window to a civilization, Sophianou added. "Languages build bridges between people. Poetry gives those bridges a soul."

JongMay Urbonya, HSK ambassador from the United States, said she grew up watching Chinese martial arts dramas.

She delivered an emotional address in fluent Mandarin. She recalled how those dramas first sparked her curiosity about China. Later, she came to China for university and began to deeply engage with the culture, especially classical poetry.

For her, Chinese poetry has a special charm. It is often very short, yet the emotions run deep, and the imagery is beautiful. Sometimes, with just a few lines, you can already see a season, a night, or a person's mood, she said.

"What makes it unique is that it doesn't say everything directly. It leaves room for you to think and feel for yourself. So when you read a poem, you are not just reading words — you enter the scene and the emotion."

Xu Kun, president of the university, highlighted the role of artificial intelligence and digital innovation in reshaping international Chinese language education.

"As humanity accelerates into the intelligent era, AI is reshaping education with unprecedented breadth and depth, presenting a historic opportunity for leapfrog development in Chinese language education," Xu said.

He introduced the university's efforts to create immersive, scenario-driven learning experiences through smart teaching platforms and digital Confucius Institutes.

"We are building a borderless, intelligent teaching platform to bring Chinese learning to every corner of the world," Xu added.

Graciela Barrantes from Costa Rica, a third-year undergraduate student at Beijing Normal University who has studied Chinese for seven years, said learning Chinese changed her life. She now dreams of establishing a Chinese-language institution for Latin Americans.

Sandy Chipolina from Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, began learning Chinese after seeing increasing news reports about China.

She studied at the University of Manchester and later at Nanjing University, and is now on a half-year exchange program at Peking University.

"I have met many Chinese people, and they are all very warm to foreigners," she said. "When I first started learning Chinese, my Chinese was not good, but no matter what questions I had, they always tried to help me. If their English was not good, they would immediately go and find someone else who could speak English to help me."