Young calligrapher unofficial champion of World Economic Forum
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Visitors expecting the "New Champions" of business at the World Economic Forum meeting in Tianjin this month have been surprised to find the star of the event is an 11-year-old girl.
Rather than a rising titan in the world of finance or economics, pont-tailed Wang Jingrong, dressed in a pink traditional cheongsam skirt, has been catching all the attention -- doing Chinese calligraphy ink works.
Foreign representatives and forum staff swarming between meetings have stopped to watch Wang at work.
On an exhibition stage called "Welcome to Tianjin," Wang patiently brushed the Chinese characters for messages such as "A lifetime of happiness" and gave them away to anyone who asks.
"I believe if we want to carry forward Chinese traditional culture, to make foreigners understand China, calligraphy is a good medium," said Wang.
The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the "Summer Davos," is attended by representatives of international growth enterprises. It has also attracted future global leaders, fast-growing regions, competitive cities and technology pioneers from around the globe.
Wang, who was recommended for the forum by the Tianjin Youth Center, found her stage right in the center of the venue during the event from Sept. 13 to 15.
"I started work at eight in the morning when the venue opened. I have written nearly 50 calligraphy works for foreign guests in one day and got almost 20 orders," said Wang.
Chinese calligraphy can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions and dates back 5,000 years.
However, Wang's passion is increasingly unusual in a world where most of her peers communicate through their computers or cellphone keypads.
"I used to think that only old people in China did calligraphy, but there is a new generation that is also interested in doing this," said Patricio Lopez, rector of Mexico's Universidad Virtual Tecnologico de Monterrey.
During three-day session, Professor Lopez returned repeatedly to Wang's stage, curious to know why a new generation was interested in calligraphy.
For 5,000 years, calligraphy, written with a brush pen, was regarded as a symbol of high culture in China and even influenced ancient architecture.
The Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), Mao Zedong, leader at the founding of the People's Republic of China and other national leaders, statesmen, strategists or educators were calligraphers.
However, few schools today teach calligraphy in basic education and most parents send their children to learn mathematics or English rather the four ancient arts of "the lyre, chess, calligraphy and painting."
Wang's mother, the daughter of a painter, was an exception. She sent her daughter at the age of seven to calligraphy classes.
"My school does not offer calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting courses," Wang said.
Patrick Carr, with Germany's Roland Berger Magazine, who was making a documentary for Young Global Leaders of 2010 Summer Davos, used Wang in the video.
"Calligraphy is writing, but more than writing," said Professor Lopez. "It's an art.
"When she's writing, I have been watching, she's good, like an artist, showing skills that I've never known. I like that."
Professor Lopez planned to frame Wang' s calligraphy work and hang it in his home.
"That will remind me of this new China, since it has special meaning to me," said Professor Lopez.
