A flagship event to connect overseas Chinese communities with their cultural roots in Guangdong's Jiangmen concluded on July 1 with its "Young China Speaks" Chinese Recitation Competition.
Twenty best-performing finalists advanced from 1,145 contestants from 32 countries and regions to win the "Rising Star" certificate and a subsequent Chinese root exploration study tour.
Organized by Jiangmen's Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau, the recitation competition serves as an annual exchange platform for the Chinese mainland and overseas Chinese communities. The competition was conducted online and spanned almost five months, starting from the qualifiers kicked off on February 10. Thousands of competing recitation videos were collected from a diverse group of adolescents, all of Chinese ethnicity—overseas Chinese descendants or mixed-race Chinese.
Jiangmen is a coastal city in Guangdong. For centuries, it has been a cradle of migration, with millions of its people journeying overseas. Today, the descendants of these migrants form vibrant communities in over 100 countries worldwide, maintaining strong connections to their ancestral roots.
The competition aims to foster cultural recognition among overseas Chinese communities by focusing on reciting Liang Qichao's seminal essay - "Young China Speaks," with the intention of awakening overseas Chinese feelings about traditional Chinese culture.
A statue of Liang Qichao with the "Young China Speaks" inscription serves as a backdrop in Jiangmen.
The competition proved to be far more than a language test. Contestants showcased remarkable fluency while conveying deep engagement with the text's meaning and their cultural roots.
Liu Yueting from Japan's Tongyuan Chinese School discovered Jiangmen's significance through the contest. She expressed a desire to visit the city she now understands as "the very roots and spirit of countless overseas communities."
Gao Youzhi from the Netherlands' One Plus Education Centre described how preparing for the competition led to a deeper understanding of Liang Qichao's message. She highlighted the famous line about youth's wisdom and strength shaping the nation, stating it reinforced her sense of responsibility: "to be ambassadors of this culture, ensuring the world hears our voices and understands our heritage."
Teacher Bi from Australia's Sydney Huaxia Culture School noted the joy of seeing students eagerly engage with the Chinese language and classics like "Young China Speaks," emphasizing that such events "foster a genuine, deep emotional bond with ethnic Chinese cultural roots" and serve as vital bridges connecting global youth to their ancestral heritage.
The event generated significant online traction, amassing over 140,000 views and 18,000 interactions globally. Schools from Laos, Myanmar, the UAE, Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Russia, and beyond actively participated. Since its launch in 2018, this flagship event has attracted more than 500,000 young people from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao SARs, Taiwan Province, and overseas Chinese from more than 30 countries and regions.
Reporter | Huang Xinyi
Photo | Previous report by South
Editor | Hu Nan, James, Shen He
