On July 29 2012,the Confucius Instituteat the University of Minnesota Summer Camp brought to a successful end. This program is sponsored by Hanban and operated by the Capital Normal University. The14-daytrip was like a feast of Chinese language and culture. The campers not only experienced the charm of Chinese culture in the classroom, but also enjoy thereal native Chinese people's life through a variety of activities.

There are more than ten thousand students of the Chinese languagein Minnesota.The 18 Confucius Institute Summer Campers were selected from outstanding Chinese learners from the local high schools in Minnesota. Each participant has a strong desire to learn Chinese language and culture. Some of them started to work in their spare time a year ago, in order to make the money for the international air ticket for their China trip. The Confucius Institute Summer camp provided an excellent opportunity for them to study Chinese language and explore Chinese culture. Their Chinese dream came true during this trip.

The Chinese language curriculum was innovative and pragmatic, which was designed to address to the students' specific need. The Chinese language lesson covered a variety of practical topics, such as asking for directions, shopping, traveling, and making friends. These topics effectively associated the students with the everyday life in China and enhanced their communicative skills. When the campersfist arrived in China, they could barely communicate with the local people. However, by the end of the second week they were proudly using their Chinese language ability for everything from ordering food and barging with the hawkers to giving a closing speech at the endof the summer camp. It was impressive that their Chinese language proficiency has been improved.

The Summer Camp also conducted Chinese art projects, including paper cutting, tai chi, calligraphy, Chinese songs and other cultural courses. These American high school students learned to explain the charm of the rich Chinese culture using the art language.In the last Chinese class, all of the campers sang the birthday song that they just leaned to celebrate Olivia's 15th birthday. Olivia was moved to tears in the "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinese. She said it was a "very, very happy birthday".

For better understanding of China, the summercamp also arranged visitsto the Chinese culture exploratorium at the Hanban/Confucius institute Headquarters, the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Tai mountain, Confucius' hometown in Qufu, and other attractions. The organizers also helped the campers to find language partners. In addition to language tutoring, the campers practiced the language throughshopping, eating hot pot, playing table tennis, and watching Chinese movies with their language partners, to experiencethe real Beijing people's life. What deserves to be mentioned the most is that the campers on behalf of the American high school students participated in the National DiaboloCompetition. The campers who had never seen diabolo before called it "Chinese yo-yo". They were trained by some professionaldiabolo game player and performed very well in the contest.

The camp was held successfully. It leaves a passion for China in every camper's heart, and greatly stimulated the American students' interest in learning Chinese language and culture. Many parents and teachers emailed the Confucius Institute to express their thanks. Dan, one of the campers, who is applying for U.S collage said thathe plans to study Chinese in college and wants to be sure he attends a college with a strong Chinese program.