Uzbek children contribute to intercultural camp in China

July 26, 2011

On July 26, Soong Ching Ling International Children`s Camp kicked off at Crab Island resort area near Beijing. Among the participants is a team of students from Tashkent`s Uspensky Music School, whose participation has been made possible thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Fund Forum and China`s Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

The camp at Crab Island resort also drew children from France, Russia, South Korea, Malaysia and Australia, who will be participating in a series of competitions and contests. The camp will run through August 1, 2011 and will offer trips to various Chinese cities as well as visits to historical sites, museums, parks and major tourist attractions.

The young talents from Uzbekistan have the opportunity to demonstrate their music skills they learned back home. Since they arrived at the camp they have given masterful performances of Uzbek tunes on national music instruments. They also played the tambour, saxophone, flute and doira and performed dances.

On the very first day, they picked up skills in playing the hulusi, a Chinese national instrument, also known as cucurbit flute, which is broadly used by national minorities in southwestern China. The hulusi is a wind instrument held vertically and has three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest.

Chan Zhoundoun, Executive Vice President of Soong Ching Ling Foundation:

“This camp is a great place for children from various countries to build friendship bridges and get to know about other nations` cultures, traditions and customs. This cultural dialog is a big contribution not only to cultural exchange between children, but also to friendly relationships among countries.”