China through foreign eyes

At the 2014 "Looking China" young foreigner short video awards, in Beijing, this May 4, one entry by a foreign student from Australia's Melbourne University and a Chinese student from China's Suzhou University took top prize, beating out 56 other entries by telling a story of some senior citizens in the cities of Shanghai and Suzhou who go to marriage-partner activities for their children in local parks.

Kate Lafoe, of Melbourne University, worked with Xu Chuannan, of Suzhou University, to finish the work, titled "Age • Height • Education Background" in hopes of reflecting the conflict between the older and younger generation in their views of marriage during a time of rapid urbanization.

Liu Chuansheng, a head of Beijing Normal University, addressing the awards ceremony, in Beijing, on May 4. [Photo by Li Yuxin/Xinhua]

The "Looking China" activity provides awards for short videos that tell Chinese stories through the eyes of young foreigners from across the country every year. It intends to encourage young foreigners to look closely at the country. It began in 2011 and has accumulated 100 short videos, according to Liu Chuansheng, a head of Beijing Normal University which is the organizer of the activity.

The 2015 "Looking China" event is expecting more young foreigners to find Chinese friends and visit ordinary Chinese families to show them to the outside world, said Liu.

This year's event has selected 100 people from 19 countries. The participants are divided into 10 groups and sent to 10 Chinese cities: Lanzhou, in Gansu province; Xi'an, in Shaanxi province; Chengdu, Sichuan; Guiyang, Guizhou; Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Xiamen, Fujian; Shenyang, Liaoning; Qingdao, Shandong; Kaifeng, Henan; and Beijing.

Each participant will shoot a 10-minite documentary under the theme, "People, Family, and Country". All the videos will be on display on Aug 5 in Beijing following foreign exhibition, promotion, publishing and appraisal later from October to December.

Huang Huilin, a Beijing Normal professor and founder of the event, explained that they value the unique views of cultural discovery, artistic expression, and a good international cooperative spirit and really look forward to some excellent short videos with Chinese content and a foreign perspective.

Huang Huilin, founder of "Looking China" and professor of Beijing Normal University, takes a photo with students. [Photo by Li Yuxin/Xinhua]