Peking University, Oct. 22, 2012: Please use words, videos, stories and your talents to interpret your understanding of “a better society for all” and wow the audience and judges.

On the night of October 20, in the Moonlight hall at Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center, it was the final showdown of the Chinese Speech Contest for International Students at Peking University (PKU). There were five sessions in the final contest. Apart from two regular sessions– speech on a given theme and questions from the judges, another three sessions were added to make the contest more interesting and to better reveal the whole package of a contestant, namely video presentation, test of Chinese cultures and talent show.

The four finalists were: Lin Xiafei from Thailand, David from America, Inoue Shiki from Japan and Michael from Australia. They all fully expressed the theme "Charity Brings Us Together" in their unique ways.

During the video presentation, Lin Xiafei moved all the audience by telling her story of volunteering in a high school for the deaf. David continued to be humorous and played a creative and interesting clip featuring his international friends, showing the importance of helping each other and bringing laughter to the audience at the same time. Then, in the speech session, Inoue Shiki illustrated the power of charity by sharing his experience of being a volunteer teacher and advocated helping more people realize their dreams by doing public service. As for Michael, he called upon the audience to protect the environment based on the Tao theory of worshiping the nature.

In the test of Chinese cultures, the four competitors expressed their understanding of traditional Chinese festival, Chinese zodiac, Chinese literature and martial arts respectively. They provided different perspectives drawn from their own experiences. In the last session, the talent show, the stage saw an array of fascinating performances. The sign language performed by Lin moved people a lot. The Chinese character dictation show by David shined through. A new adaption of the song Most Amazing National Flavor performed by Inoue Shiki brought the house down. The guitar performance with the theme of "environment" by Michael got the audience cheering continuously.

An exciting night came to an end when the result was revealed. Inoue Shiki received the award for Best Stage Presence. David came third and received the award for Best Creativity. Lin Xiafei came second and received the award for Best Language Skills. Michael became the champion of the whole competition. The speech contest successfully concluded in thunderous applause.

As part of the 9th PKU International Cultural Festival, the speech contest not only offered the international students a chance to gain insights into public welfare, but also enhanced their ability to express in Chinese as well as their willingness to learn more about Chinese cultures and the Chinese language for better communication between different cultures.

Written by: Meng Yiran
Edited by: Chen Long
Source: Office of International Relations, PKU