Chinese Taster Session at Whitley Bay Library

This Chinese taster session held at Whitley Bay Library, one of the North Shield Libraries, was organized by Ms. Chen Wanxiu from the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University, with Ms. Tan Xiaolu as the main instructor for this Chinese interest-based course. This course series is part of the 12th "China Day" cultural festival hosted by Xiamen University. Spanning four weeks from October 2 to October 30, each session lasted about one hour, attracting approximately 60 participants in total, most of whom were seniors over the age of 60 from the local community.

The course aimed to provide local community residents with a small window into Chinese culture and language. This collaboration with North Tyneside Libraries follows a previous series of four Chinese taster sessions conducted during the summer term at Forest Hall Library, another branch within the North Shields Libraries network. Ms. Susan Clark, the Events and Outreach Information Officer (Libraries) at North Tyneside Libraries, provided extensive support for this course series. To express gratitude for her thoughtful assistance and strong support, and to connect with our warm and engaged participants, Professor Yuxiao Su, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University, joined the final session. Professor Su interacted warmly with the participants, engaging in warm and lively conversations. The session concluded with a group photo, and everyone agreed to continue such language and cultural courses and activities in the future.