Date: Dec. 8, 2020 

Source: Office of International Exchange and Cooperation

Nathaniel Jorden Hebenton, a Canadian student in JNU's College of Chinese Language and Culture, won one of the five national grand prizes in the fourth My Beautiful Encounter With China Essay Competition and Short Video Competition for International Students, hosted by the Ministry of Education's Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges and organized by Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges. The awards ceremony was held online on Dec. 8. Fang Jun, deputy director of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and Yang Ling, deputy director of Chinese Service Center, spoke during the ceremony. Around 200 international students and teachers from 69 universities participated. 

Hebenton won for his short video A Young Canadian Man's Slow Life in Guangzhou, in which he reflects on his experiences before and after studying in Guangzhou and expresses his affection for his life in Guangzhou. 

Doungkamon Sukvichanchai, a Thai student in the College of Chinese Language and Culture, received a special award in the essay competition for A Semester of Mixed Feelings, which describes her experience of remote education in Thailand during the pandemic and expresses her gratitude to her teachers. JNU also won the Outstanding Organization Award.

The nationwide competition is open to all international students in China and alumni of Chinese universities. This year's entries have had more than 2.4 million plays on the official TikTok of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges, making a broad impact.