HOUSTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese language competition for high school and college students were held Sunday in Houston, the fourth largest U.S. city.

More than 20 students from eight southern U.S. states participated in the competition for non-native Chinese speakers held at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

Contestants made speeches under the theme of "My China Dream," performed Chinese dances and songs, and one even performed the complicated Chinese tea ceremony, to vie for the first award which will guarantee the contestant a spot at the upcoming World Chinese Bridge Contest in China.

Brianna Hair, who had spent nine years in China with her parents, won the first prize for college students, and the first place for high school contestants went to Neha Jain.

Interest in learning the Chinese language and culture has surged in the past decade as the American economic and cultural ties to China have deepened, judges and experts at Sunday's competition said.

Participants at the annual Chinese language competition held by the Chinese Consulate in Houston for southern U.S. students are demonstrating higher Chinese language proficiency each year, said Siqi Dong, head of the judge team.

Over the past 10 years, more than 350 Confucius Institutes and over 500 Confucius Classrooms have been set up in 105 countries and regions. More than 50,000 international people are learning Chinese, according to Hanban, the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.