On the afternoon of June 6, 2013, 24 students, who are Chinese language learners from grade four of Zora Middle School in Rennes City, France, arrived at Confucius Institute in Brittany under the lead of their Chinese teacher. They tasted Chinese tea, learned to play Chinese mahjong and closely experienced Chinese culture.

During the activity, Blaise TIERREE, the foreign Director of the Confucius Institute in Brittany first introduced different means of tiles with various designs and then the playing rules of Mahjong to students. The students showed their strong interest in this Chinese game. They kept asking questions while playing. They felt strange about designs of tiles and ways to stack them. After practicing for several times and asking for more information, they gradually learned the charm of it. Ms. Zhou, the teacher of tea art of the Confucius Institute, was explaining the Chinese tea culture to another group of students. Ms. Zhou was demonstrating while explaining how to make tea and let the students taste it. Finally, with the help of the teacher, students made nice Chinese tea for the representatives who came to attend the conference, which won favorable comments. The fine tea set and the exquisite tea making process helped every student feel the extensive and profound culture of Chinese tea art.

Zora Middle School, as one of the most ancient middle schools in Rennes, was founded in 1802, which had a 30-year history of Chinese language education. The number of students in the school who are learning Chinese has exceeded 400. Confucius Institute in Brittany, as a center of spreading Chinese language and culture, has kept a great and close cooperative relationship with Zora Middle School. According to the Chinese teacher who led the students to experience Chinese culture, Zora Middle School has greatly supported its students to learn Chinese and experience Chinese culture. Each semester, they schedule regularly to go to the Confucius Institute in Brittany, letting its students experience Chinese culture, so as to lay a solid cultural foundation for their future Chinese language learning.

The foreign Director of Confucius Institute introducing Mahjong to the students

Ms. Zhou, the tea art teacher, sharing Chinese tea art to the students

French middle school students showing strong interest in Chinese tea culture