Feature: "Learning Chinese is my favorite thing to do," says American girl

CHICAGO, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- "Learning Chinese is my favorite," said Kiri Werner, an eighth-grade girl from Minneapolis, the U.S. Midwestern state of Minnesota, in a video submitted to the "Happy Family" short video contest program.

Werner once lived and studied in Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia in China. She has even written a book in Chinese depicting her life in China, which has been published.

In another video submitted, Annelise Carlson described her family's trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hong Kong, and demonstrated her skills on traditional Chinese musical instruments of Guzheng and Yangqin.

The Chinese Consulate General in Chicago launched the "Happy Family" short video contest in November. Participants may present their happy family life through Chinese poem reading, Chinese song singing, or original essay reciting. The contest has drawn widespread participation among the nine states in U.S. Midwest.

Based on more than 40 videos sent in, experts invited by the Chinese Consulate General have picked five winners for the "Chinese Star" Award, and five winners for the "Short Video of Creativity" Award. Werner's video won the "Chinese Star" Award; and Carlson's won the "Short Video of Creativity" Award.

Ava Moore from Intercultural Montessori Language School in Chicago started to learn Chinese at three, and has visited China twice. The school donated nearly 6,000 face masks and 250 medical isolation suits to Wuhan, China in March 2020, when COVID-19 was ravaging there. Addressing the donation ceremony, Moore in fluent Chinese talked of her Chinese learning and China travel experiences, and wished people in Wuhan to overcome the difficulty of the epidemic as quickly as possible.

Moore won the "Chinese Star" Award. Other "Chinese Star" Award winners are Nica Johnson, Arianna Kim, and brothers Harrison Riddle and Cameron Riddle.

Marianne Krutsch, Andy Salk, Katie Sickling and Mulan Sun won the "Short Video of Creativity" Award by sharing their family's happy life in either a humorous or a touching way.

By organizing the event, the Chinese Consulate General aims to offer a platform for the American public to brag about their Chinese, encourage them to learn Chinese culture and become friendship ambassador and bridge between the two countries.