Augie Dobson, a 9-year-old American boy is proud of his ability to speak Chinese. He has been studying the language for three years from Shanghai Community International School.

    Augie is one of a group of three and took part in a drama performance competition It was organized to eoverseas students to understand Chinese culture. Their play is based on Tang Dynasty(618-907) poet He Zhizhang's "Hui Xiang Ou Shu. "L, the play got the second prize at yesterday's ceremony.

    "Hui Xiang Ou Shu" means writing something after returning home. It describes an old man who left his hometown at a young age but feels like a swhen he returns a couple of years later.

    Mrs Sun, a Chinese teacher in school said she tries to teach her pupils to sing and dance to the poem. "Children are interested in singing poems rather than just reciting t."

    Students at Shanghai Community International School now learn an ancient poem every day. "It's difficult bI'm trying to remember." said Augie

    The first prize went to drama Kong Cheng Ji, performed by students at Dulwich College Shanghai, Kong Cheng Ji, tells of Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period(220-280) . He had no army to protect and guard the city but mto make the enemy's leader Sima Yi believe that the city was full of traps and ambushes(遵伏). As a result, Sima gave up.

    Li Zihao, 9, plays Sima in the drama, Li is a fan of chengyu, Chinese four-charac-ter idioms(四字成语)

    "I've downloaded an app about telling stories with chengyu, and he loves it. I think chengyu is a very sand important part of Chinese culture. Four words alone can mean a lot, and chengyu shows the great wisdom of old Chinese people." said his mother.