Twenty-four contestants shone at the South Jiangsu division of 2016 Shared Joy in Jiangsu Chinese Speech Contest, Wuxi on May 18.

The event, sponsored by the Jiangsu Government Information Office, the Education Department of Jiangsu Province and the Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu, aimed to showcase the province's glamour.

Contestants were international students at Jiangnan University, Suzhou University, Jiangsu University, Yangzhou University, Changzhou University, Changzhou Institute of Technology and Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute. They came from 20 countries, including the US, Australia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Cambodia and Ghana.

Everyone made a three-minute speech, revolving around "My Chinese Dream" or "My Chinese Story".

Professor Zhuang Ruojiang at Jiangnan University, Lu Meijuan, vice-dean at Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Xiao Peng, chief announcer at Wuxi Radio & TV Station, Han Yajun, lecturer at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Su Chang, anchorwoman at Jiangsu TV’s international channel served as judges.

They gave marks on the basis of content, language expression, fluency, presentation skills, and appearance.

Finally, Nigerian Yu Fu, from Suzhou University, and Burmese Vincent, or Yang Zhengqiang, from Changzhou University, took the top two places and will attend the finals in Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, this June.

Zhang Zhengqiang, a freshman from Changzhou University, graduates from a high school in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, last year. [Photo from jschina.com.cn]

Yu Fu, an international student at Suzhou University, arrived in China last September. He took first place at the event. [Photo from chinadaily.com.cn]