This December, Germany ushered in the long-lost white Christmas season. Although the weather is cold, both indoors and outdoors are immersed in the warmth and joy of the holiday. The teachers and students of the European School of Nottheim are even more busy and excited this Christmas season. Since November, the school teachers and students have been preparing for the opening of the "Traditional Chinese Painting exhibition"

In order to promote cultural exchanges between China and Germany and spread Chinese art and culture, the German Education Union held the "German Education Union Art Class" at the European School in Nottheim from mid-July to early September. In this art class, Mr. Wu from the School of Calligraphy and Painting of Nanjing University is invited to teach Chinese and German students about Chinese painting art and lead the students to practice painting.

After the art class, the German students shocked the school leaders with their paintings. Together with the German Education Union, they decided to organize an exhibition of these works. Professor Li of the German Education Union is pleased to agree and will take this opportunity to present a special gift to the European School of Northeim.

After more than a month of careful preparation, on December 15, "Traditional Chinese Painting Exhibition" (Traditionelle chinesische Malerei) opened at the Nottheim European School. All the works on display are drawn by German students according to traditional Chinese art techniques. The key works on display are: koi play lotus, stone orchid, blue leaf lotus, water hibiscus, Xiangyang shallow bottom, Cang bamboo panda.

Half an hour before the opening ceremony, students came to grab seats, full of anticipation for the upcoming event. Students and teachers who arrived late had to bring their own chairs to find a place to sit.

At 11:30, the opening ceremony officially began. First by the head of the European School of Nottheim,Dick. Mr. Kvarik made an opening statement. He recalled the friendship between the European School of Northeim and its partner universities in China for more than 10 years, as well as the exchanges and cooperation during this period; He stressed the achievements of the German Education Union in promoting cultural exchanges between the two countries over the years and expressed his heartfelt thanks to the German Education Union for its dedication.

After the president's speech, Dr. Wang Xiaojing of the German Education Union introduced the prequel and life of this exhibition to everyone present. Then, four German student representatives came on stage to tell about their interesting experience in art class, as well as their feelings and experiences in the process of completing art works. Next, the German teachers and students are looking forward to the link: the German Education Union students introduce the culture of art imagery

And philosophical significance. Foreign friends often do not understand the theme of Chinese painting: why do Chinese people paint these flowers? This grass? These fish? Therefore, at the opening ceremony, our German Education Union students used fluent and clear German to explain the philosophical connotation, cultural background, literary allusions, and daily application of the key images in each painting vividly to the teachers and students in the form of almost completely unwritten.

The students' elegant demeanor and detailed explanation impressed all the teachers and students present." Finally understand, so it is!" I hope one day my Chinese can be as good as their German. The German students in the audience murmured and praised. Vice Rector Peter Fiebeck personally took the stage to express his gratitude to the students of the German Education Union for their introduction.

Next to the warm applause came the leader of the German Education Union. He will address the opening ceremony and present a mysterious gift to the European School of Nottheim. Three German senior students from the school's liberal Arts High school volunteered to translate the leader's speech. One more interesting tidbit about translation.

Because of the epidemic, German students studying Chinese at the European School of Arts and Sciences in Northeim have not had the opportunity to serve as interpreters during visits to China or when receiving Chinese visitors for three years. So when they learned that Chinese guests were coming to speak, three of the students fought for their interpreters' addiction. They also want to try to translate German, but also want to challenge German translation into China. In the end, Professor Li decided to "hire" all three translators, and he would speak German and Chinese at random. If he speaks German, the students translate into Chinese; If he speaks Chinese, the students translate into German. The three German students were very happy to receive such an exciting task. They took the assignment as an opportunity to improve and demonstrate their Chinese proficiency.

In his speech, Professor Li recalled the friendship with the school and told about the original intention of holding the art class of the German Education Union: "We are very grateful to the Northeim European School for training many Chinese students. Many of them are already working in German companies or studying at German universities. The German Education Union is an old friend of the European School of Nottheim. After I learned that school trips to China could not be carried out since the epidemic, I have been thinking about how we can let German students experience Chinese culture without leaving school under the current conditions. We came up with the idea of holding a painting class. German students can learn about Chinese art, broaden their perspective and enhance their cross-cultural understanding by studying traditional Chinese painting. In the future, we will strive to provide more opportunities for Chinese and German students to know the world and know themselves. "

Later, Professor Li revealed the upcoming mysterious gift: In order to solemnly thank the European School of Northeim for its support of cultural exchange, I invited the famous Chinese painter Mr. Cheng Yiwei to create a painting "Thousands of Miles for Neighbors" for the landmark Theater der Nacht in Northeim and the Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province of China, and presented it to the European School of Northeim. Welcome to China. The enthusiastic Chinese students and teachers are looking forward to communicating with you. "

In another round of enthusiastic applause, Professor Li handed the painting to Mr. Kvaric.

Against the backdrop of the ink and green mountains, the welcoming pines of Huangshan open their arms to the remote night theater, as if to embrace this distant friend. The top right corner of the painting has Zhang Jiuling's famous sentence: "Friends are not far away, but thousands of miles are neighbors."

Peter, Vice principal of the European School of Nottheim. Mr. Fiebeck is not only an educator, but also a famous German historian. In the speech that followed, he not only introduced the development of Chinese painting art from a historical point of view, but alsoanalyzed the composition and content of the painting from an aesthetic point of view, and finally introduced the connotation of Zhang Jiuling's poem from a literary point of view, as well as its practical significance in international cultural exchanges.

The opening event is coming to an end, but there are still surprises. After Mr. Fiebeck announced the official opening of the exhibition, Ms. Wu Zixuan, a guzheng performer invited by the German Education Union, brought the atmosphere of the event to a climax. Interguan Yingyu language, pharynx spring flow, ice spring cold astringent, pearl plate...... The audience alternately held their breath and applauded. This was the first time that most German teachers and students saw and heard the instrument.

The music was followed by a dim sum buffet party sponsored by the German Education Union. Chinese and German students and colleagues exchanged greetings, enjoyed paintings, tasted tea and took group photos. The laughter of this moment, the atmosphere of this moment, the friendship of this moment, will stay here for a long time and stay in everyone's heart here together with this painting "Miles for neighbors".

During the epidemic, cultural exchanges fell into a "little ice age". In the post-pandemic era, "icebreaking" has become a top priority. In order to effectively promote cultural communication and exchange, the German Education Union has designed three "dimensions" strategy: maintaining interest, maintaining emotion, maintaining communication; On this basis, it is emphasized that cultural transmission should have temperature, depth and durability. The German Education Union has demonstrated the effectiveness and sustainability of this "dimension".

As Professor Li pointed out in his speech: the German Education Union will continue to work hard to provide Chinese and German students with more opportunities to learn about the world, but also know themselves.