On 14 September 2016, Dougal Macbeth, UNNC CELE tutor from New Zealand, got the first place in the 2nd Mandarin Competition for Foreigners in Ningbo. The competition was held in Tianyi Pavilion – the earliest private library in Asia and one of the three earliest private libraries in world. Its authentic Ming Dynasty style building created vivid atmosphere of imperial examination. The winner was entitled as ‘Zhuang Yuan’ –an exclusive title for the one who got the first place in imperial civil service examination. Nottingham Confucius Institute China Ningbo Branch, who accompanied Dougal to prepare for the competition, shared the happiness with him.

Competitors of this Mandarin competition came from diverse countries, including South Korea, Russia, UK, and Chad. They showed their Mandarin capacity through one minute simplified Chinese characters recognition, presentation on ‘Traditional Chinese Festival and I’, and talent show.

Korean competitor’s perfect performance in the first round game created a huge pressure to the other competitors, as he got full marks. Dougal nearly lose marks when he mixed ‘节目’（programme）and ‘节日’（festival）, ‘冷水’（cold water）and ‘冰水’（ice water）. Fortunately, he corrected mistakes immediately.

In the presentation, Dougal’s accurate pronunciation, fluent expression, and interesting content of his presentation gained high speak of the judges. 45.8 marks, he ranked the second place amongst all competitors with less than 1 mark lower than the one in first place.

The last round game Talent Show turned out to be the fiercest part. Russian girl’s clapper talk, Chadian boy’s hip-hop, and South Korean boy’s song of Little Apple lit up the atmosphere on site. Dougal calmly sat on the stage and played with a traditional Chinese musical instrument Erhu. When the melody of Racing Horse came out, everyone was deeply touched by this young man who possessed with proficient Mandarin skills and comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture. 18.5 marks, Dougal finished his performance and sealed a victory.