Zhang Yu JeniZhang13@163.com NIFONTOVA VIKTORIIA, a Russian student at Shenzhen University, won the top award with a prize of 10,000 yuan (US$1,454) at the second Oriental Cup Chinese Calligraphy Contest for the International Community. Following the success of the Oriental Cup contest for expats in Guangdong Province in 2017, this year’s competition has encouraged foreign friends from across the country to take part and provided a platform for them to learn, exchange and display Chinese calligraphy skills. The competition attracted many foreigners to participate after it was launched June 6, and more than 10 calligraphy activities were held in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Beijing, Ningbo and other cities. As of Sept. 30, the contest had works submitted by over 500 Chinese calligraphy enthusiasts from 28 countries. The awards ceremony for the calligraphy contest was held at the Shenzhen Grand Mercure Oriental Ginza Hotel on Dec. 7. After strict assessment, Viktoriia from Russia was awarded the first prize for her calligraphy work of a poem from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The panel of judges said that Viktoriia’s work was rigorous in structure, powerful in stroke and had a coordinated layout, which demonstrated her solid basic skills. Three contestants, including Santiago Galvan from the United States, Saryyeva Jahan from Turkmenistan and Enkhzaya Enkhsaikhan from Mongolia, won second prizes. Five contestants took home third prizes and 30 were given excellence awards. According to the organizers, many of the previous winners have continued to partake in the competition and submitted their works this year. To this end, the organizing committee also set up an honorary award to commend these contestants for their active participation. Organized by the Publicity Department of the Futian District Committee of the CPC, the competition was co-hosted by Shenzhen Oriental Art Gallery and Shenzhen Calligraphers Association. It was financed by the Special Funds to Promote Cultural and Sports Development of Futian District. | 