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The Asian Association of Commerce, Culture and Education in Europe (AACCEE) is delighted again to present the 2019 Chinese New Year Concert in the Usher Hall on the 9th of February. The Chinese New Year, known as the Spring Festival in China, will be celebrated on stage by the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra and some outstanding artists from China.

The concert involves orchestra, singing and dancing from both cultures. The music from the Orient is chosen from well-known and traditional tunes, combined with western classical music, ending with Scotland’s historical and popular melody ‘Auld Lang Syne’. The highlight of the musical performance will be undertaken by performers from both countries, with newly revamped scores and talented artisans.

Also on stage will be a kaleidoscopic splash of color presented by Chinese and Scottish dancers. The cooperation will also involve special choreographed scores played by the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra and performed by Chinese dancers. The Scottish dancers will do a variety of reels. The whole show will bring audiences a delightful feast of culture in sound and vision.

These are but some of the performances, so sit back and enjoy the concert, witnessing an end to the year of the Dog. Ring out loyalty and honesty, bring in happiness and gentleness from the year of the Pig. Hope we can spread the atmosphere and pleasure of the Chinese New Year Festival throughout the capital city of Scotland, sharing the joy and warmth of the occasion to you all!

Date: 9 February, 2019

Location: Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2EA

Doors open: 6pm

Concert: 7pm-9pm.

Price

Early bird tickets (until end of day 6 January): £15 and £10
Standard tickets (from 7 January onwards):  £20 and £15

Tickets will go on sale at 10:00am on Saturday 1 December.  Book your ticket here.

This winter Edinburgh Zoo is alive with the glow of bright, multi-coloured lanterns in the shape of Chinese and Scottish mythical and real creatures.  The Confucius Institute for Scotland is partnering with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) for this season’s Giant Lanterns of China festival.   It runs on select evenings from November 16 to February 17.  The lanterns are carefully designed and installed by craftsmen from Sichuan province in China. When the Confucius Institute for Scotland supported last year’s lantern festival at the Zoo tens of thousands of visitors were captivated by the display.  This year promises more surprises and delights.   You can scan the QR code on the sign board next to each lantern to get the Chinese version.

Every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the Zoo’s lantern festival period we will post stories related to the Chinese myths and legends as well as other snippets of fun information about Chinese culture.  Check out the gorgeous pictures and memorable stories.

Monkey King 孙悟空

Leaping Carp over the Dragon Gate 鲤鱼跳龙门

Nine-tailed Fox 九尾狐

Four God Beasts 四大神兽

Lady of Flowers 天女散花

Nine Coloured Deer 九色鹿

Chinese Zodiac 十二生肖

Chinese Calendar 中国历法

The 24 Solar Terms 二十四 节气

How is Christmas Celebrated in China?

The Chinese Five Elements 中国五行

Happy New Year – January 1st

1,2,3 – The Legend of Pangu

Preparation of the Chinese New Year

Welcoming Good Fortune at Chinese New Year

The Lucky Carp 支付宝锦鲤

Taboos During Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year’s Family Reunion Dinner – A Delicious Feast

How to Make Chinese Dumplings – A Crash Course

The Legend of the Beast Nian – Origins of Chinese New Year

Spreading Luck at Chinese New Year

Fortune God, Kitchen God, Door God – Gods at Chinese New Year

We are honoured to host leading scholars from China and Europe at a unique international conference The Belt & Road Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities on October 4^th and 5^th, 2018. Building on the success of last year’s conference, this year the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh is closely cooperating with our partner Fudan University in Shanghai.

We believe this conference will be of great interest to a broad audience as it will be a rare opportunity to hear a range of international insights into the Belt & Road Initiative. The conference has a panel format with topics covering governance, economics, data, culture and education.

We are fortunate to host two distinguished keynote speakers from China:

Keynote Lecture, October 4^th 2018, 18.00-19.30 at King Khalid Building, Surgeons’ Hall, Hill Square, EH8 9ST

Wang Wen, Professor and Executive Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China

The “Belt and Road” and the World after 5 years: A Review of Challenges and Successes in the Past and its Prospects for the Future.

His lecture will be a review of the challenges and successes over the past 5 years of the Belt and Road Initiative and prospects for the future.

Professor Wang holds a number of senior positions including Consultant Fellow at the Counselors’ Office of the State Council of China and Standing Director of World Socialism Research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  He has published widely on international issues including a book entitled Green Finance for the Belt and Road Initiative.

To receive your complimentary ticket for the Wang Wen keynote, please register by October 1^st at:

https://edin.ac/2pquRZy

Keynote Lecture, October 5^th 2018, 18.00-19.00 at Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI), 1/9 High School Yards, Infirmary Street, EH1 1LZ

Chen Liming, Honorary Professor of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of IBM Greater China Group

“In a Data-driven World, Good Governance Means Good Data Governance”

Mr Chen is a transformation and transboundary business leader with more than 30 years’ experience in multinationals across a range of industries and diversified cultures.  He has led corporate transformation, business turnaround, performance improvement, and governance enhancement.

To receive your complimentary ticket for the Chen Liming keynote, please register by October 1^st at:

https://edin.ac/2pnTRRl

Both keynotes are followed by drinks receptions.

You are also warmly welcome to join us at our conference:

The Belt and Road Initiative, Challenges and Opportunities

October 5^th 2018, 09.00-16.40 at ECCI, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI), 1/9 High School Yards, Infirmary Street, EH1 1LZ

To receive your complimentary ticket for the conference, please register by October 1^st at:

https://edin.ac/2ppMs4b

For the Programme, please see:

BRI Programme final

Watch the short video of our 2018 conference here.

Registration is now open for the March HSK and HSKK Exam Diet.  The registration deadline for the offline HSK exams and HSKK exams is on Wednesday 19 February.

For more information on the HSK and HSKK and to register please visit our main HSK page here.

This 5-week Chinese character introductory course is designed for beginners with an interest in visualizing and memorizing Chinese characters. The course is taught in English. By the end of the course students should be able to understand:

• how Chinese characters have been evolved through the history
• the structure of Chinese characters
• principles of formation
• radicals and rules of stroke order
• at least 150 Chinese characters

Course details:

• Start date: Wednesday, 4 July
• Duration: 5 weeks
• Day(s) and Time(s): Every Wednesday from 6pm-7:30pm
• Price: £65

 Course Content:

• The structure of Chinese characters
• Character components and radicals
• Rules of stroke order
• Phonetic and semantic components of Chinese characters
• How to use a Chinese dictionary
• How to input Chinese characters by computer

Teaching Methods:

The course is tutorial-based with a combination of joint class activities and group work. Supplementary material is prepared by the teacher. In order to fully benefit from the course and to achieve the learning outcomes, students are expected to spend 1-2 hours per week on revision and homework.

Core Readings:

Course materials will be provided by the teacher at the classes.

To book and pay online please use the University ePay system.  Alternatively download this Summer 2018 Chinese Language Course Form then complete and return it to the Confucius Institute for Scotland with a cheque for the correct amount made out to the University of Edinburgh.

An introductory course for learners who have no prior knowledge of the Chinese language. It is designed for those who want a short focused introduction to Chinese language learning. Running for 12.5 hours over 5 weeks, this course takes learners through basic expressions needed in typical conversational situations. Pronunciation and communicative practice will be the focus of this course. By the end of the course students will have started to tune in to the sounds of Chinese language and the tones, and have learned some basic phrases used in for social interaction.

Course Details:

• Start date: Thursday 5 July
• Duration: 5 weeks
• Day(s) and Times(s): Every Thursday from 10am-12.30pm
• Price: £85 (including material)

Course Content:

• Pronouncing Chinese names
• Understand cultural aspects and key vocabulary on Greetings
• Daily useful expressions
• Expressing gratitude or objections
• Health Topics

Teaching Methods:

The course is lively and engaging with a combination of joint class activities and group work. Supplementary material is tailored by the teacher. Students will be taught in a small group with the emphasis on the skill of social communication in Chinese.

To book download this Summer 2018 Chinese Language Course Form then complete and return it to the Confucius Institute for Scotland with a cheque for the correct amount made out to the University of Edinburgh.

This course is designed for those who have either completed the previous Summer School Chinese language Beginners 1 or have acquired a similar level of proficiency. Students will learn more measure words and attributive adjectives, both of which can enable students to compose longer sentences. With the learning of expressions regarding calendar and clock times, students will be able to state more details regarding everyday life in conversations. There will be ongoing work to encourage student to recognise and write Chinese characters. By the end of 25 hours of intensive learning over one week students should be able to:

• Handle simple conversations in settings such as shopping, dining at restaurants, making appointments over the phone;
• Talk about one’s abilities, hobbies and wishes;
• State information regarding times and locations.

Course Details:

• Start date: Monday, 9^th July
• Duration: 5 Days
• Day(s) and Times(s): Mon 9 – Fri 13 July 2018, 10am-4pm
• Price: £187.50 (including material)

Course Content:

• Asking for permission and expressing requests;
• Shopping and ordering food;
• Talk about one’s hobbies;
• Phone conversations

Teaching Methods:

The course is tutorial-based with a combination of joint class activities and group work. Supplementary material is prepared by the teacher.

Core Reading:

Wu Zhongwei. Contemporary Chinese for Beginners. Beijing: Sinolingua, 2010. This book will be provided to registered students at the start of the course.  Please contact info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk if you already have a copy of this book.

To book and pay online please use the University ePay system.  Alternatively download this Summer 2018 Chinese Language Course Form then complete and return it to the Confucius Institute for Scotland with a cheque for the correct amount made out to the University of Edinburgh.

Book both weeks of Summer school Day Time class Beginners 1 and 2 for a discount price of £325 including learning materials.

This course is designed for complete beginners with little or no knowledge of Chinese language. Basic listening and speaking skills are emphasized along with the study of pinyin, the official Romanisation system for Standard Chinese (普通话, Pŭtōnghuà, literally ‘common speech’) in mainland China. By the end of 25 hours of intensive learning over one week, students will:

• Have a basic knowledge of Chinese language;
• Be able to use basic grammatical and sentence structures to introduce oneself and to engage in simple conversations;
• Have basic knowledge of Chinese names, some traditional custom and family structures.

Course Details:

• Start date: Monday, 2nd July
• Duration: 5 Days
• Day(s) and Times(s): Mon 2 – Fri 6 July 2018, 10am-4pm
• Price: £187.50 (including material)

Course Content:

• Pinyin – the official Romanisation system for Standard Chinese in mainland China;
• Vocabulary and expressions regarding speaking about one’s name, nationality, language skills and family;
• Expressions regarding stating one’s wishes;
• A brief introduction to Chinese writing system;
• Numbers.

Teaching Methods:

The course is tutorial based with a combination of joint class activities and group work. Supplementary material is prepared by the teacher.

Core Reading:

Wu Zhongwei. Contemporary Chinese for Beginners. Beijing: Sinolingua, 2010. This book will be provided to registered students at the start of the course.  Please contact info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk if you already have a copy of this book.

To bookdownload this Summer 2018 Chinese Language Course Form then complete and return it to the Confucius Institute for Scotland with a cheque for the correct amount made out to the University of Edinburgh.

Book both weeks of Summer school Day Time class Beginners 1 and 2 for a discount price of £325 including learning materials.

Join us for our first distinguished lecture this year on Thursday 28 March to hear from Professor Zhang Jun, Dean of the School of Economics, Fudan University.

China’s Economic Catch-up: Is This a Merited Success?

China has been progressing well in its structural transformation and integration of its economy with the rest of the world.  This has resulted in a substantial narrowing of its productivity gap with the advanced economies over the past 40 years. However, its success in catching up is increasingly being blamed, for instance by the US, for intended violation of a level playing field and forced transfer of technology. In this lecture Professor Zhang will present evidence to show:

• Why China, as a latecomer, could learn to mimic the model of East Asian high-performing economies
• Why China’s fast growth could largely be accounted for by its high rate of saving and investment, which is common to the East Asian Miracle.

Biography

Professor Zhang Jun is the Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai and Director of the China Centre for Economic Studies. He is one of the leading economists in China and a respected commentator in international and Chinese media. He is a graduate of Fudan University and studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Sussex.  Professor Zhang has contributed to many economic journals and in 2018 received the Bergson Prize from the American Association for Comparative Economic Studies.  He has authored or edited numerous books including Economic Transition with Chinese Characteristics: Thirty Years of Reform and Opening Up (McGill-Queen University Press, 2008) and End of Hyper Growth In China (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Registration 5.30pm / Lecture 6pm / Q&A , Networking & Drinks 7. 30pm

Location: Main Auditorium, University of Edinburgh Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9JS

All Welcome! Please help us by booking your seat via this Eventbrite link.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is currently seeking a new General Manager. Vacancy details can be found here. Closing Date:21 MAY 2019  at 5pm.

Following the closure of the Institute last week due to the weather, additional classes will be run.

For those students whose classes on Wed 28 Feb were cancelled on Wed 28 Feb, an extra class will be run on Wed 4 April.

For those students whose classes on Thurs 1 March were cancelled, extra classes will be run on Thurs 5 April

We hope that students will be able to attend in order to complete the planned programme of study.

Thank you for your understanding.