Singing is one of the best ways to learn a foreign language, so Hanban or the Office of Chinese Language Council International has launched a new project for Mandarin learners around the world. It's called "I Sing Beijing."
20 youth vocalists from around the world ended an open-air concert in Beijing singing "I Love You China" in Chinese Mandarin. They've just finished a four-week training course in China learning Chinese and western opera. Their song list included some classics of China's modern Peking Opera.
The twenty vocalists are the lucky ones standing out from hundreds of applicants for the project "I Sing Beijing" initiated in March of this year. It's Hanban's new exploration to enrich the connotations of international Chinese language education.
"I Sing Beijing" will present a final gala concert at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on August 18th.
(CNTV August 17, 2011)