East China Normal University is deepening cross-cultural understanding by encouraging international students to explore Chinese characters in an engaging and creative way.

The university hosted a Chinese character competition on May 20 as part of a series of events marking the 60th anniversary of its international student program.

International students of all language levels took part in the competition.

Divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced tiers, the tournament allowed students to showcase their growing command of Chinese while engaging with the history, structure, and beauty of its characters.

The beginner tier focused on foundational skills. In Pictograph Spy, teams raced against time to recognize basic characters. Radical Rush tasked players with assembling character components to form accurate words, while the Dictation Challenge tested listening and writing precision through progressive elimination rounds.

As the competition intensified in the intermediate division, students demonstrated deeper language understanding. Character Bingo turned vocabulary knowledge into a strategic game, as players raced to spot and circle words within a 12×12 grid of Chinese characters, aiming to achieve high scores by avoiding duplicates and mistakes. In Character Magic, players were tasked with adding strokes or radicals to given characters to form entirely new ones. An upgraded Dictation Challenge introduced complex vocabulary to raise the stakes even higher.

The advanced tier showcased students' fluency, quick thinking, and cultural insight. In Character Riddles, teams deciphered clues based on the form, pronunciation, and meaning of characters. Word Chains challenged players to think quickly and creatively as they linked homophones. The highlight for many was Idiom Charades, where students acted out traditional Chinese idioms — a crowd favorite that turned abstract expressions into moments of shared laughter and insight.

East China Normal University plans to continue offering international students engaging platforms for cultural exchange and self-expression. Through each new initiative, the university hopes to spark greater interest in Chinese characters and support students on their journey to master the language.

Source: Official WeChat account of Global Education Center of ECNU at "ecnugec"