The Sydney leg of the eighth "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Contest for foreign college students was held at Tom Mann Theatre, Surry Hills on Sunday, May 10. The theme of this year's competition was "Fun with Chinese, hope for Success".

Eight competitors from seven universities including Sydney University and the University of New South Wales took part in the competition.

Competitors completed three stages – making a speech on a self-selected topic, the cultural knowledge quiz and the talent competition.

During the performance section, the students demonstrated their singing talent, calligraphy, paper cutting, and other Chinese-themed skills.

Winners of the competition will join more than 150 college students from the world to compete in the next stage yet to be held in Changsha, Hunan Province, China.

Ambassadorial rank Consul General Mr. HU Shan of the consulate-general of the People's Republic of China in Sydney attended the event and addressed the contestants.

One of the competitors, Sandhya Sharma said, "I lived in Kunming, China for 1 year. That was the best experience of my life so far. I am eager to visit China again and feel this great country once again."

The 8th Chinese Bridge Competition is divided into the preliminary stage, the semi-finals and the finals. The preliminaries are being held in countries around the world, while the final stages will be held in China.