On October 11, 2012 – at Confucius Institute within the Free International University of Moldova there was held a Chinese Corner activity with the topic ‘’The Origins of Chinese tea’’, The event was attended by the Director of Confucius Institute Dr. Yang Tongjun, Confucius Institute teachers, volunteers and students. The event was opened by Director Yang, who welcomed students and told them that tea is not only a particularity of the Chinese civilization, but it is also a bridge between China and the world. He also expressed his hope that Chinese Corner events will serve as a window for Moldovan students towards Chinese culture. The event was organized by teacher Ma Linjuan, who said that arrangements for this kind of event were made for the upcoming six months, so Chinese Corner events will take place every two weeks thereafter and will comprise such topic as: the origin of Chinese tea, the origin of Chinese characters, Chinese traditional festivals, legendary Chinese minority dance shows, traditional Chinese medicine theory, Chinese martial arts, and Chinese cuisine. We hope that these activities will help students increase their interest in learning Chinese, and will enhance their understanding of Chinese culture.

Sun Yang, volunteer at Confucius Institute, by means of a lively PPT explained to students the origin of the Chinese tea, the tea classification and the principles of Chinese tea ceremony. Student Nicolai Sapoval showed to his classmates, in a humorous manner, the mistake westerns usually do while drinking Chinese tea. At the event there was also invited a Tea specialist, Olga, who made a consistent presentation about Chinese tea, and explained to the audience the origins of the tea, told them about the benefits of drinking tea upon a healthy body and long life. Then all persons present at the event were invited to taste different types of Chinese tea. Olga mentioned that along with Chinese tea, Chinese calligraphy is also a very important aspect of Chinese culture.

All of the activities during the Chinese Corner created a warm, learning and enjoyable atmosphere.