In the age of keyboards and touch-screens, calligraphy hasn't entirely lost its charm on the young.

The First "Sino-Culture Cup" International Youth Calligraphy Contest has selected a handful of winners from home and abroad. The result was announced Sunday during the International Cultural Festival for Chinese Calligraphy.

"Chinese calligraphy has a kind of beauty that's hard to put into words," said Saana Virtanen from Finland, the only first-prize winner from outside of China.

"It's a delicate and flowing balance of black and white, two colors with so many variations," she told China Daily and added, "Writing down the strokes is liking dancing movements to me."

The exchange student of East Asian Studies in Renmin University of China has been learning Chinese for five years now, and her advice for commanding the art is this, "You have to first know the meanings of each character and functions of each radical, then you can understand them much better."

Li Yifan, another first-prize winner and a middle-school student from Henan province said learning the art for eight years has taught him how to be a righteous man, "Besides appreciating the dignity and beauty of calligraphy, one should behave the way he writes, that is, always with integrity."

"We have to try understanding Chinese Calligraphy from inside, its aesthetics are different from what we're used to," said Nicola Piccioli, chairman at the FeiMo Contemporary Calligraphy Cultural Association in Italy.

"Calligraphy can lead the search for truth, kindness and beauty," he said.

"The Chinese characters show the character of its people," said Han Qide, vice president of CPPCC and a calligraphy aficionado. "All young people should learn to write them well," he also said.

Winning works from the students will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of China National Academy of Painting through August 28.

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