A 60-member delegation of the United Nations staff visited for a three-week Chinese study tour at the invitation of the Office of the National Leading Group for the International Promotion of Chinese.
The simple Chinese vocabulary turned out to be adorkable when uttered by the UN staffs that come from various departments of the United Nations.
Song Sude from Cairo, Egypt, is a "high-ranking player". She has been to China 14 times, loves the Chinese culture, and enjoys eating the salted duck of Nanjing. Learning Chinese is a "beautiful experience" for her, she said.
The UN staffs also paid a tour to the ancient water town of Zhouzhuang in Suzhou where Martin, a staff with the Integrated Coordination Office for Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, experienced the wedding customs of the water town by becoming a bridegroom in a simulated wedding.
The art of Kunqu opera also enthralled the UN staffs and some of them even went onto the stage after watching the performances.
Since 2004, the Chinese government has sponsored UN employees and diplomats through the Office of the National Leading Group for the International Promotion of Chinese to studying Chinese at Nanjing University in the summer. To date, more than 900 UN staff members from more than 40 countries have come to China to study and experience the language, culture and life.
(Source: Jiangsu International Channel)
