Overseas students promote Beijing Central Axis

Activities aimed at encouraging the public to join in understanding and promoting history and culture along the Beijing Central Axis have been recently held one after another, attracting hundreds of young students, including some from other countries, to experience the charm of Chinese culture.

One of the latest activities aims to select cultural promotion ambassadors for the Beijing Central Axis, the core historical area of the ancient capital city. Students from 74 countries and regions such as the US, South Korea and Russia have entered the competition, the results of which will be published in early December, a member of the committee organization told the Global Times on Sunday.

During the final selection held from November 5 to 6, contestants demonstrated their deep understanding of the Beijing Central Axis and love for traditional Chinese culture.

Some of them turned to traditional seal carving to design and carve their own unique logos for the Central Axis, while others carved pictures of the ancient architecture along the Central Axis on gourds. Some contestants brought their calligraphy works and paintings on the surrounding scenery of the Central Axis.

The Beijing Central Axis, seen as one of the most important representations of Chinese civilization, stretches for 7.8 kilometers from the Yongding Gate in the south to the Bell Tower and Drum Tower in the north.

This area also tells the stories of ancient emperors from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Young overseas students who have been living and studying in Beijing were also attracted to the marvelous architecture and profound history along the Central Axis.

Oren Michael Denton from the US is one of them.

Denton is currently attending elementary school in the Haidian district of Beijing. His family combines two different cultures of China and the US. Because of their love for the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, they decided to settle down in Beijing.

In a brief video clip introduction, Denton showed his understanding of the Central Axis and narrated his story with the city. He said that his favorite place in Beijing is the Temple of Heaven, where he often practices martial arts.

Two elementary school students from South Korea finished a painting of the Central Axis in their video introduction and then went on to introduce stories about the buildings, such as the Yongding Gate and Zhengyang Gate, in fluent Chinese.

Other contestants narrated stories about the Central Axis in English, French and Spanish.