On Sept. 10, the opening ceremony of the “2018 Visiting Program for Young Sinologists” was held in Shanghai.

Zhu Qi, deputy director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said at the ceremony that in recent years, sinology studies and research on China are becoming an area of interest for both domestic and foreign scholars. Sinology is embracing significant historical opportunities.

Young sinologists should shift from an onlooker perspective as “the other” to being a bridge for communication, thereby promoting the exchange and mutual learning of human culture. The Visiting Program for Young Sinologists allows more young sinologists to come to China to study, observe, understand and research China at zero distance, and to facilitate mutual cultural learning between countries, Zhu said.

Yan Shuang, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, said that the Visiting Program for Young Sinologists is held with the hope that sinologists from different countries can carefully observe, listen to and understand China. And through a better understanding of China, they can better understand the world, make greater contributions to their own nations and be more responsive to the major transformation and adjustment the world is undergoing.

Zhang Daogen, president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that Chinese culture is diverse. To truly understand China’s culture and reality, it is necessary to conduct field research. He suggests that participants in the training program can inject fresh blood into Chinese studies overseas through persevering in local study and research.

Hend Elmahly, an Egyptian and doctoral student at Shanghai International Studies University, said that she has decided to read more books, get to know more friends, and learn more about China’s culture, history, national conditions and thoughts. She hopes that one day she will become a true “China hand,” translate Chinese books into Arabic and spread Chinese cultur

(Edited and translated by Shao Yijia )