2008 Friendship Competition Among Ambassadors on Knowing Chinese Culture

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After a full month’s intensive training and competitions, 2008 friendship competition among ambassadors on knowing chinese culture (taijiquan) sponsored by the CPAFFC was declared successfully closed at the gymnasium of the No. 4 Middle School of Handan City, Hebei Province. CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan attended the press conference in Beijing and spoke on the occasion. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu was present at the closing ceremony in Handan. In the course of the competitions, about 300 foreign ambassadors to China, their wives and envoys from over 90 countries entered their names for the competitions. Atmosphere on the spot was very enthusiastic. The ambassadors unanimously praised this meaningful event and said that they learned quite a lot from it.

Conscientiously Learning Taijiquan

The ambassadors and their wives have been interested in the Chinese ancient taiji culture for a long time and some of them had practiced it. They knew that one can not master the essence of Chinese wushu (martial art) in a single day, it needs to practise very hard. So, after the close of the Beijing Paralympics, the Sports and Culture Centre of the Beijing Dongsi Olympic Community received a special group of students―foreign diplomatic envoys to China.

With the purpose of learning taijiquan, Eve from Namibia came to the class with her parents. She took pictures of the whole process of how her mother was learning taijiquan as mementoes.

Ms. Magdalene Teo, Brunei ambassador to China, had once watched the performance of taijiquan, but she didn’t expect that she felt entirely different from what she had imagined when she practised it. She said, “Taijiquan should be done very slowly, quite different from jogging and playing golf that I usually do.”Though she did the taiji movements very slowly, she would sweat all over in a short time. She said that after mastering the series of movements she would keep practising, for she believed that keeping practising taijiquan for a long period of time is good forhealth.

Chuah Chee Meng, attaché in charge of education in the Malaysian Embassy in China who had just come back from his business travel in ROK, hurried to the Sports and Culture Centre. He said that many Chinese in Malaysia were practising Taijiquan, but he had no time to learn it as he was very busy with his work. He hoped that in future this kind of useful training would be held regularly so as to further carry on the quintessence of the Chinese culture.

Doing Taijiquan Beautifully in Competition

After a period of time of earnest practice, the ambassadors and their wives entered the finals of the competition.

During the competition, the diplomatic envoys in white kungfu costumes did every movement naturally and smoothly. Though they came from different countries and had different cultural backgrounds, their taijiquan movements of outward softness but inward firmness began to demonstrate the unique profound truth of taiji.

Mr. Ismail Gurgen from Turkey recorded this precious moment with his video camera and said: “Today my wife took part in the competition. I think she has done it wonderfully. My son and I are proud of her. I was so intoxicated during the competition that sometimes I even forgot to record it with my video camera.” After the competition, Mr. and Mrs. Gurgen and their youngest son won the prize of harmony and mutual assistance.

Even after the competition, Carolina Villegas Carvajal, wife of Minister Counsellor Federico Perez Botero from Colombia, still asked the coach to tell her the main points of taijiquan technique. Because of language barrier, she asked an interpreter to help her while she posed to do the movements. Her earnest attitude attracted the attention of other competitors. Some of the competitors even invited the instructors to be their private coaches in future.

Mr. and Mrs. Botero won the winner’s prize and the prize of the best movements respectively. Mr. Botero said: “The Chinese taijiquan with broad and profound contents makes me feel calm and concentrated. It is simply a beautiful art.”

Munshi Faiz Ahmad, Bangladeshi ambassador to China, who won the championship, said that as his wife was quite interested in Taijiquan, recently they had kept practising it. In the future they would introduce this traditional Chinese sports to other members of his family and friends. As an envoy of cultural exchanges, he hoped that he could better publicize the Chinese culture.

Love of Chinese Culture Growing

During the competition, the ambassadors and their wives attended the cultural festivals held in the Heping District of Tianjin and Bazhou of Hebei Province, and the 11th International Taijiquan Sports Meet in Handan, Hebei Province, and visited the former residence of Yang Luchan, founder of the Yang Style Taijiquan. Many of them said these activities increased their interest in the Chinese culture.

Colonel Kenekeo Pholsena, defence attaché of the Laotian Embassy in China, had taken part in similar activities organized by the CPAFFC more than once. He said: “I appreciate the way China publicizes its culture to the world and lets the world know about Chinese culture.”

Sophia Hiniadou-Cambanis, wife of the Greek ambassador to China who was the champion of the last Friendship Competition among Ambassadors on Knowing Chinese Culture (Chinese poems), has been very interested in Chinese culture and this time she learned taijiquan. She said, these two traditional Chinese arts, though one literary and the other martial, there is similarity in content and make people have an inner peace. She wants to continue to learn taijiquan.

Sir James Michael Ah Koy, Fijian ambassador to China, and Elma Campbell, Bahamian ambassador to China, said, through this event, they have not only increased their understanding of the ancient Chinese culture, but also visited some places that they had never heard of before, enriching their knowledge and experience which will be very useful for them to work for friendship with China.

At the closing ceremony, to express their thanks, the diplomatic envoys presented the Handan Municipal Government a plaque on which is inscribed “China Handan International Taijiquan Sports Meet―the Chinese Festival Most Welcomed by Foreign Embassies in China”.

After the competition, all the participating diplomatic envoys signed and issued a declaration saying: Taijiquan belongs to China, more to the world. Taijiquan culture is an important component of human civilization. We have the responsibility and obligation to promote the exchanges and development of taijiquan culture in the world.