Last month, 77 students and teachers from six schools in Britain came to Northeast Yucai School in Shenyang for a memorable summer camp.

The Chinese Bridge Summer Camp hosted by the Confucius Institute Headquarters was a venue for foreign friends to learn Chinese language and culture, according to the event's organizers.

During the 10-day visit, the British participants from schools including Abingdon, Cleeve and Gumley House Convent took courses on traditional Chinese culture including calligraphy, tea, kung fu, paper cutting and playing the cucurbit flute.

They also experienced the charms of China's intangible cultural heritage such as shadow plays, dough figures, sugar figurines and others. They visited historic buildings including the Shenyang Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City.

The students said they spent a happy time and made friends with their host families, who helped them understand more about local culture.

"I'm so glad to be here to study Chinese and learn the traditional culture," said British student Peter David Cooper. "I will never forget the experience. I hope I can come again in the future."

Wan Dongyang, head of Northeast Yucai School's international exchange department, said he hopes "the activity raised students' interest in China and Chinese culture so that they can be envoys for cultural exchanges between the two countries in the future".

liuce@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 08/29/2014 page15)