The Confucius Classroom At the 18th Secondary School In Sofia Under the Confucius Institute in Sofia Have Held Their Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration And the School Opening Day Ceremony

On 15th September 2024, the Confucius Classroom at the 18th Secondary School in Sofia - part of the Confucius Institute in Sofia family, have held their Mid-Autumn Festival celebration and their School Opening Day ceremony for the new school year. The ceremony has been attended by Ms Emilia Lazarova - Deputy minister of education and science, Mr Stanislav Iliev - Mayor of the Vazrazhdane District in Sofia, Ms Vanya Kastreva - Head of the Regional Department Of Education In Sofia city, H.E. Ms. Dai Qingli - the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Yang Tian – the Head of the Department Of Education at the Chinese embassy in Bulgaria, Ms Ralitsa Kirilova - the Headmistress of the 18th Secondary School in Sofia, Ms Dessislava Nikolova – the Vice-headmistress of the same school and other school leaders. Both directors of the Confucius Institute in Sofia – Ms Aksiniya Koleva – the director on the Bulgarian side, and Prof. Chen Ying - the director on the Chinese side, as well as Chinese diplomatic envoys in Bulgaria, teachers, parents and students from the school and more than 6.000 people have also attended the ceremony.
In her speech, the Ambassador of China to Bulgaria H.E. Ms Dai Qingli has praised the 18th Secondary School in Sofia for their commendable achievements in the field of Chinese education. Moreover, she has expressed her hope that all students will be more successful in the new school year and that they all will become ambassadors of the humanistic exchanges between China and Bulgaria. Ms Doylina Mladenova - an eighth-grade student from the school, has sung the Chinese song ‘The Moon Represents My Heart’ by which she has received the applause of the audience.
The cultural activities to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival have been various and abundant in number. The teachers, the students and their parents had the opportunity to taste mooncakes, to learn about the origin and the significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and to participate in cultural experience activities such as calligraphy, five-in-a-row-chess, face painting, shuttlecock kicking, etc. The booths with these activities have proved to be alluring to many visitors who have stopped by to feel the unique charm of the Chinese culture.
Since its establishment, the Confucius Classroom at the 18th High School under the Confucius Institute in Sofia, have been actively promoting Chinese language teaching and have been organising various cultural activities which have become an important medium for the local people to learn about Chinese culture.

Confucius Institute in Sofia
Text: Huang Shihui
Photos: Zhang Qing
Editors: Prof. Chen Ying, Aksiniya Koleva, Chen Chen
English translation: Maya Kostadinova

Photo 1. Speech by Ms Ralitsa Kirilova – headmistress of the 18th Secondary School in Sofia.

Photo 2. The school opening day ceremony.

Picture 3. The ambassador of China in Bulgaria H.E. Ms Dai Qingli delivering her speech.

Picture 4. Ms Doylina Mladenova singing a Chinese song.

Picture 5. Experiencing Chinese culture at the cultural activity booths.

Picture 6. Playing the shuttlecock game.