"After watching a short video clip of Journey to the West, I really wanted to come to study and live in Xi'an. In September 2018, my wish finally came true!" At the inauguration ceremony of Xian Branch of the Huaqiao College of the Open University of China (OUC) and the opening ceremony for an offline training class in Chinese culture with Han and Tang dynasty characteristics held in Xi'an on the morning of 24 November 2018 Wang Jie,

a foreign student from India, shared his excitement with the participants in fluent Chinese.

The unveiling ceremony was hosted by the OUC’s Huaqiao College and sponsored by Xi'an Radio & TV University (Xi’an RTVU). Zhao Liling, vice secretary of the Party Committee and President of Xi'an RTVU, and Li Linshu, OUC vice president, both delivered speeches.

In November 2017, Xi'an Han Tang Culture Network College, founded by Xi'an RTVU (the OUC’s Xi'an Branch), was unveiled in Xi'an. Since then, the Xi’an Hantang Cultural Network College online platform, or the Hantang Chinese Language Network, has grown from 1,000 users to nearly 3,000. The students come from all over Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and Oceania, covering 37 countries. Foreign students from partner universities such as Northwest University and Xi'an International Studies University have also become online and offline students of the Xi’an Hantang Cultural Network College.

Supported by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, the OUC’s Huaqiao College is open to the public at home and abroad, including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. It implements online and offline integrated non-degree training and degree education on the basis of the Modern Distance Open Education and the Internet + Chinese Language Learning model. The establishment of the Xi'an branch has established a structure with two-wings for the teaching of Chinese language as a foreign language at Xi’an RTVU, It is intended to give full play to the advantages of both sides based on the Internet + Chinese Language Education model, realise the co-construction and sharing of excellent teaching resources, and offer students of the Huaqiao College and the Hantang College access to Han and Tang dynasty culture and more colourful voices from across Chinese history.

Tukai, an international student from Azerbaijan, said in his speech that Xi'an has become his second home and that the Hantang Chinese Language Network is a good way to learn Chinese language and Chinese history and culture. By studying at Xi’an Hantang Cultural Network College, he hopes to build friendships and pass the spirit of "peaceful cooperation, openness and tolerance, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win" along the Silk Road, so as to continuously promote the progress of civilisation, and the prosperity and development of countries along the Silk Road.

During the ceremony, Ai Hao, deputy director of Xi'an International Port Free Trade Office, and Ren Huilian, dean of the School of International Cultural Exchange, Northwest University, signed cooperation agreements with Song Feng, director of the Xi’an Hantang Cultural Network College.

By OUC