On July 19th, participants of the "Wonderful Journey of Minnan (or Southern Fujian) Intangible Cultural Heritage" summer camp arrived at Xiamen University, kicking off a 13-day visit to China. There was a total of 20 members in this summer camp, including 18 college students from 5 universities across Turkey and 2 accompanying teachers. The Chinese International Education College of Xiamen University has organized a diverse range of spoken Chinese courses, Chinese culture lectures, and cultural experience activities for this summer camp. Participants will also have the opportunity to visit famous historical and cultural sites in Xiamen and Quanzhou, immersing themselves in traditional Chinese culture and experiencing the colorful customs of Minnan. This event is one of the short-term projects supported by the Confucius Institute Scholarship program, which covers the expenses for participants in China.

Upon the arrival on July 18th, student volunteers from Xiamen University assisted Turkish participants with their hotel check-in and took them on a tour of the campus and familiarized them with the nearby environment. On July 19th, the opening ceremony of the summer camp was held at the Chinese International Education College. Mr. Wu Tianxi (Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute) and Ms. Cheng Yangyang(a teacher from Xiamen University) introduced the details of the summer camp, hoping that all Turkish participants in this camp would enjoy learning and experiencing the rich and diverse language and culture of China, and encouraging them to become cultural ambassadors for Sino-Turkish exchanges in the future.

The Chinese International Education College has carefully arranged a rich and interesting Chinese language course for the Turkish student group. The summer camp is designed to enhance students' proficiency in Chinese language skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Alongside the language course, the summer camp also incorporates elements of traditional Chinese culture such as Chinese cuisine, Minnan ancient architecture, tea culture, and the Silk Road, aiming to integrate language learning with cultural experiences. By integrating language learning with cultural experiences, students can effectively improve their spoken Chinese abilities.

Xiamen University has arranged in-depth experiential courses for this group. Experts and scholars were invited into the classroom to teach students how to make blessing flowers and paper-scrolling. They also took students out of the campus to experience the traditional Minnan puppet show with a history of thousands of years, and to understand the evolution of Chinese theater. They visited Siming Campus of Xiamen University, the living museum of world architecture: Gulangyu Island, and Quanzhou. They also tasted authentic Minnan cuisine. This summer camp, which provided a close encounter with Chinese culture, further enhanced the enthusiasm of Turkish youth for learning Chinese, met the needs of the Turkish younger generation to understand China and learn Chinese, and promoted the development of international Chinese education and cultural exchange between China and Turkey.

Participants expressed that this was an unforgettable experience and thanked the teachers for their careful care and hard work during the summer camp. They hope to participate in other study abroad activities organized by Xiamen University in the future and are looking forward to furthering their studies at Xiamen University.