On 10 February 2012, the winter term's "Chinese Conversation & Culture Corner" started up in the Confucius Institute for Scotland. The first event attracted more than 20 people interested in Chinese culture, some of whom were students from the University of Edinburgh, to take part in the activities.

With Valentine's Day forthcoming, the first "Chinese Conversation & Culture Corner" of this semester chose "Chinese Valentine's Day" as the topic. The organizer used video, PPT and music to present Chinese love stories, in order to vividly convey the key elements of Chinese love which are modesty, loyalty and faithfullness. The participants were highly engaged and actively shared the love stories of their own countries.

The lively and interesting opening event attracted many more people to join in the other five Chinese Culture and Conversation Corner activities of the term.

The other Chinese corner activities covered various topics including traditional Chinese sports, crafts, minorities, tea art and Olympic games. In the Chinese traditional sports session, participants tried to make Chinese shuttlecocks and yoyo. They also enjoyed playing shuttlecocks. The brief introduction of Chinese minorities improved foreigners' understanding of Chinese nation. The art of tea session created a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in which participants communicated and chatted with each other about their impressions of different kinds of Chinese tea.

The Chinese Conversation and Culture Corner stimulated and improved foreigners' interest and enthusiasm in learning Chinese. We are already looking forward to the Chinese Conversation & Culture Corner in next semester!