Malaysian youth of Chinese descent visit Yantai

A Malaysian girl of Chinese descent learns calligraphy in Yantai, Shandong province. [Photo/jiaodong.net]

A group of Malaysian teenagers of Chinese descent paid a visit to Yantai, Shandong province on Dec 15. This was a part of their winter camp designed to introduce them to the glamor of traditional Chinese culture and the beauty of the coastal city.

The camp was sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and organized by the Foreign and Overseas Affairs Office of the Yantai Municipal Government.

During their stay in Yantai, the teenagers visited the Laizhou Calligraphy Brush Museum, Yantai Museum, Penglai Pavilion and learned about traditional Chinese folk dance, martial arts, calligraphy, dough modeling, seal cutting, circular fan painting and Chinese knotting art.

They were also invited to the Yantai Foreign Language Experimental School and Laizhou Martial Arts School to conduct exchanges with the students.

Tian Meili, leader of the winter camp, said she was impressed by the hospitality of Yantai locals and the charm of traditional Chinese culture. Tian opened a school in Malaysia more than 30 years ago to teach traditional Chinese folk dance. Since the 1990s, she worked as the leader of winter and summer camps to China. Tian expressed her enthusiasm for Chinese culture, adding that she wishes that kids of Chinese descent will have more opportunities to access and inherit Chinese culture.

Huang Enlin, a camper, said the trip offers a complete new outlook on China, adding that she will tell her friends about her experiences in China and help spread the Chinese culture.

Bao Zhanghong, an 18-year-old teenager in the camp, said he learned about China through media in Malaysia, and his first trip to the land where his ancestors had lived was like coming back home.