Solidifying friendship with Mandarin songs
the classic songs Let Us Sway Twin Oars and Slow, Slow Tune to the pop hit My Paper Plane, in early April members of the Chinese Choir of the German high school Burg Gymnasium performed a captivating concert for local teens in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
As a nonprofit organization that conducts “singing to learn Chinese” activities for German teenagers, the choir has long served as a bridge for bolstering Sino-German friendship. Since its founding a decade ago, the choir has helped its members understand Chinese culture through song and visits, and many Chinese people have also gained a better understanding of German youth, music and education through interaction with the group.
“Each Chinese character has its own characteristics, far from being the ‘irregular shapes’ that beginners mistakenly think they are. Learning them through singing is an interesting experience,” said a German student whose Chinese name is Bu Shuchan.
Bu, who joined the choir in 2017, believes that through music, one can better grasp Chinese pronunciation, and mastering Chinese allows classmates to better understand the profound meanings in the songs, thus integrating their true feelings into the performance.
Another young German, whose Chinese name is Pan Haoyan, said visiting Chengdu was “like returning to his second home”. After graduating from high school, Pan studied at Sichuan University and participated as a student representative in the torch relay at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Chengdu Universiade.
“Before coming to study in China, I thought I could speak a little Chinese, but after hearing Sichuan dialect in Chengdu, I realized that I knew nothing about the vastness of the language,” said Pan. “Mastering just one language is not enough to fully understand a country’s culture; it’s best to walk the streets and see for yourself.”
Olaf Millmann, chairman of the choir, said: “In German, to describe friendship one would say, ‘everyone is in the same boat’. Let Us Sway Twin Oars is a song of friendship. We must work together to move forward continuously.”