The four-day joint meeting of the U.S. Confucius Institutes concludes on Monday in Bowling Green. Representatives from over 90 universities have attended the meetings, hosted by WKU. More than 260 delegates are attending the conference.
Madame Xu Lin is director general of the Chinese Education Ministry of Hanban. She says it’s important for Americans to learn about Chinese culture and vice-versa.
“Parents, students and teachers realize the two countries need to be hand-in-hand and we need to know each other, especially [in terms of] culture and for the younger generations [for their] careers,” said Xu who was in Bowling Green for the meetings.
W-K-U established its Confucius Institute in 2010 and sends students and staff every year to visit China. Xu says experiencing another culture first hand is invaluable.
“Many young students and young teachers when they come back to China, they always say they are lucky when compared to general people in China. They say it changed their lives. So I think it’s a mutual benefit.”
This weekend marked the first time all 91 U.S. Confucius Institutes have come together on American soil.