Foreign students to live with local families during annual Chinese language competition

Updated:26/07/11 09:02:09 AM CST

A total of 107 foreign student from 62 countries will participate in a special home-stay program during the 9th Chinese language competition for college students held by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters).

Wang Yongli, deputy-director of Hanban, told the press on Sunday that the 107 contestants have competed in preliminary contests among some 10,000 students. They will attend the semi-final and final contests in Changsha, capital city of central China' s Hunan Province.

According to Wang, 56 Chinese families will host the students, allowing them to experience traditional Chinese culture and make friends with Chinese youths.

"The Chinese family members will accompany the foreign contestants to perform Chinese arts in the final competition," Wang added.

The competition, begun in 2002, has seen nearly 70,000 foreign participating college students.