chinese bridge

In May I participated in a preliminary round of a worldwide contest known as Chinese Bridge. It's a Chinese proficiency competition involving speech delivery and talent presentation that ultimately brings together competitors from around the globe in the final rounds which are held as live broadcasts on national television in China. As the name "Chinese Bridge" indicates, the point of the competition is to foster international unity by building a Chinese linguistic bridge between countries cultures.


I had supposed I understood this aim--after all, Chinese has helped me build quite a few bridges to the middle kingdom from the mainland all the way down to Taiwan. Just a couple days ago, however, a small experience helped broaden my perspective. The lovely young lady in the picture above is not Chinese, (though when I leaned over to her in the restaurant we were sitting her asking for dish recommendations I sure thought she was). She's not from Taipei, nor Shanghai or Beijing. She's Japanese. And I discovered that by speaking with her in Chinese.


"Do you speak any English?" I asked her, aghast that we had been speaking for several minutes in fluid Chinese. "Not really," she replied with a chuckle." Our conversation continued for several more minutes without a break in speaking Chinese. Perhaps the experience may seem mundane to some, but I could not believe my ears. Not because I don't think Japanese people learn Chinese, but because I felt like I had hit a bullseye from 300 yards because of my decision two years ago to start formal Chinese training.


I don't think I've ever met someone from Japan before, much less spoken with one in Chinese. The last time I tried to speak Chinese to an Asian who wasn't Chinese, she looked at me funny and said, in crystal clear English, that she was Korean. This time around, I not only got a dinner recommendation, but I got to build a bridge to the land of the rising sun.


Pleasure to meet you, Haruna.
晴菜，認識妳我很高興。