A total of 110 teenagers from about 100 countries, all contestants of the 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, toured major attractions and experienced Chinese culture in Beijing on Tuesday.

The contestants, aged 14 to 18, from five continents, visited the Great Wall and the National Stadium. Then, at the Chinese Cultural Experience Center of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, they made paper-cutting, played Chinese musical instruments, practiced martial arts, as well as tried on traditional Chinese costumes.

Emilia Jovic from Serbia, 15, learned Chinese for two years out of interest in Chinese culture and history. She said her favorite book is Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, a collection of reminiscences of famous Chinese writer and social activist Lu Xun.

"I like the book because the strong emotions in it touch me a lot," she said. She added by joining in the contest, she wants to test her own Chinese skills and is confident in wining the championship. She plans to perform allegro at the final.

Jovic is visiting China for the first time and she is already "feeling at home". "I really want to drink some milk tea here," she said.

Tanisha Vishal Jadhav from India, 15, said she likes Chinese drama, historic movies and hanfu, a traditional Chinese clothing, which "shines and is bright with vibrant colors", she said. She is also interested in Chinese medicine as she wants to become a doctor in the future.

"China is very big and magnificent," she said, adding she will sing a Chinese song at the final.

On Wednesday, the teenagers will visit Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, before touring Dali Bai autonomous prefecture and Kunming in Yunnan province. The final competition will be held on Oct 30 in Kunming.

Themed with "Fly High with Chinese", the competition, together with the 3rd Chinese Bridge Chinese Show for Foreign Primary School Students, organized by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education, aims to provide a platform for teenagers and children from around the world to share their stories of learning Chinese and promote people-to-people exchanges.

As this year also marks the 10th anniversary for China to propose the Belt and Road Initiative, it also expects to help the young contests know more about modernization, ecology, beautiful countryside and ethnic culture of China, organizers said.

The Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition is also open to college students. Since 2002, about 1.5 million students from about 160 countries have participated in overseas preliminary contests and about 7,000 have been invited to China to join in the finals. It has become the most influential contest in Chinese proficiency globally.

Video by Chen Meiling and Wang Songsong