On the Rise
At this year’s 17th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Changsha, Hunan Province, the level of Mandarin skill was the highest since the competition’s inception. One of the most popular performances was the story of the Italian sinologist Matteo Ricci (played by Australian contestant Theodore Joseph, left) and the Chinese scientist Xu Guangqi (played by Nigerian contestant Anthony Ekwensi) at their first meeting. The skit presented the historical encounter of their joint translation of Euclid’s Elements 400 years ago, reliving a tale of scientific and cultural exchanges between China and the West.
Photographer Francisco Little