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新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > 中国周刊(2002年12月号) > An exciting year from UK

An exciting year from UK
http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/05/30 11:39  中国周刊

  ◆By Tracy

  In 2002 the British Council, China, introduced a great range of innovative events, some educational, some cultural. Since the British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational and cultural relations - this may come as no surprise - but there is no doubt that the profile of these events and the number of people attending them is growing larger every year as more young Chinese become aware of what the UK has to offer.

  Based in 109 countries worldwide, in China the British Council operates as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Beijing, and the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulates-General in Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou. The British Council's purpose is to enhance the reputation of the UK, to strenghthen Sino-British co-operation in education and culture, and to support reform in China. All their work is based on partnerships between Chinese and British organisations, and the creation of opportunity for people to develop themselves.

  Let's take a quick look at some of the ways they did this in 2002 - especially remembering their spectacular arts programme.

  The year started with the hugely successful performance of the Red Shoesby Kneehigh Theatre. Playing to sell-out audiences in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2002, Kneehigh Theatre performed a powerfully visual piece - sometimes gruesome sometimes hilarious - telling a story about freedom and joy, temptation and empty pride, causing crowds to rise for standing ovations at almost every performance. With their highly creative stage design and use of costumes, not to mention the way they told their story - Kneehigh Theatre certainly presented audiences with something new.

  In February in Beijing, the annual tour of Education UK exhibitions kicked off in Beijing - with thousands pouring through the doors of the World Trade Centre Exhibition Hall to see what education opportunities the UK had to offer. With over 19,000 new UK student visas issued to Chinese students each year, the British Council believes it is most important that prospective students have access the right information so they can make the best possible study choices. The exhibitions visit 10 cities in China each year, giving students the chance to talk face to face with UK university representatives, and to enjoy other activities like English classes, mock IELTS examinations and performances by the English Teaching Theatre Company.

  Early summer saw the arrival of one of Britain's finest and best known theatre ensembles - the Royal Shakespeare Company - performing one of Shakespeare's best known plays - the Merchant of Venice- in Beijing and Shanghai. Co-presented by the British Council and the China Performing Arts Agency in Beijing, RSC's merchant of Venicewas the biggest box office success of any drama performance in China to date. The combination of high-quality live performance and a tale of justice, devotion and mercy won the hearts of the audience and the performers were thrilled by the response of their first Chinese audiences.

  During school holidays in July and August the British Council School Links programme burst into action with 134 UK high school students and their teachers attending three-week language immersion summer camps at the Central University for Nationalities. In August 2002 around 500 Chinese students from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and surrounding areas were sent to the UK to attend the first national Summer School Programme. The programmes in China and in the UK were focussed on language, culture and sport.

  chinese is now the fastest growing modern foreign language in UK schools and I anticipate the new General Certificate for Secondary Education (GCSE) in Mandarin to be introduced to the UK in 2003. The huge increase in demand for learning Chinese is reflected in the uptake of these summer language camps in China,said Richard Everitt, School Links Manager.

  The aim of both programmes is to promote cultural and education exchange between Chinese and UK schools, to enhance students?enthusiasm about learning English and Mandarin and to promote the understanding of each others cultures. The firstsgroupsof Chinese teachers that were sent to teach Chinese language and culture in UK schools in 2001 returned this summer and were replaced by 20 Chinese teachers from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing - a further extension of this programme for educational and cultural exchange.

  Also in summer, as part of the British Council's science programme, students from China and the UK had their first taste of Space School China, organised together with the Beijing Planetarium and Space School UK. Around 40 Chinese students and 30 students from the UK attended Space School China together from 20 to 24 July 2002. With topics ranging from robotics and astronomy to remote sensing, a video conference titled as there life on Mars and practical workshops on rocket building, students had the opportunity to test their knowledge of science and also get a taste of what it is like to work in space exploration. Based on the British model, this is the first time Space School was held in China and it is sure to become a popular annual event for students interested in space exploration.

  As the leaves on the trees turned golden and Autumn arrived, so too did a string of outstanding arts events. First there was Akram Khan with his invigorating performance of HAASH(Hindi word for if , a fusion of Kathak and modern dance which explores the nature of Indian gods through Khan's own unique language of movement. Following closely on Akram's tale was the Resigned for Useexhibition, an innovative showcase of British-designed products which demonstrated a certain approach to design, showing how to generate products that are not only practical, effective and beautiful but integral to business success. Next up was the music and dance collaboration of Joanna MacGregor, one of the UK's most outstanding modern pianists, and Jin Xing, China's famous modern dancer, called cross Border cross Border soon became the talk of the town in arts circles across China as it toured from Shanghai to Guangzhou to Chongqing and finally to Beijing.

  Winter has seen the launch of the in2english.com.cn, China's first completely free, interactive multimedia English language learning website. A unique initiative by the British Council, China Central Radio and Television University (CCRTVU), BBC and CCRTVU On-line, the website was launched in early November by China's Vice Minister of Education, Mr Zhang Xinsheng and the UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell MP. And then, just a few weeks ago, Theatre O's performance of three Dark Tales? had audiences bursting with applause once again at sell-out performances of this play about - as you would think - three dark tales. Theatre O's fantastic soundtrack, slapstick comedy, big dance numbers and innovative use of physical theatre techniques once again treated China's theatre audiences to something completely new.

  This may be the end of 2002 but it is definitely not the end of exciting events from the UK. In 2003, the events are going to be even bigger and better than last year as the British Council will be working together with British government offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou to deliver Think UK - an exciting series of events displaying creative, innovation UK. China Week will have more details of these events for you early in the New Year.




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