On February 24, 2026, Xu Meng and Qiu Shuzhen, Chinese language teachers from the Confucius Institute at Artois, were invited to Salomé to conduct Chinese cultural activities. This event is part of a winter camp series organized by the Salomé City Hall for primary school students. The event lasted for more than three hours, with approximately 70 primary school students participating.
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Mr. Xu Meng was in charge of the Tai Chi experience activity, teaching three groups of students aged 7 to over 10 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. At the beginning of each activity, Mr. Xu first gave a brief self-introduction, then demonstrated the entire Tai Chi routine to music. Following this, Mr. Xu explained the relevant theories and basic knowledge of Tai Chi to the students. Afterwards, Mr. Xu led the students in warm-up exercises and then began experiencing the specific Tai Chi movements. During the practice, he taught the students to use the Chinese numbers "one, two, three, four..." to coordinate with their movements, allowing them to experience the rhythm and cadence of the Chinese language while performing the actions.
Ms. Qiu Shuzhen led the ink-blowing plum blossom activity. First, Ms. Qiu guided the children to try saying "hello," "thank you," and "goodbye" in Chinese, helping them experience the tones of the Chinese language. Next, everyone recited Wang Anshi's poem "Plum Blossom": "Several plum blossoms by the corner of the wall, blooming alone in the cold. From afar, I know it's not snow, for there is a faint fragrance." Following this, Ms. Qiu briefly introduced the steps of making an ink-blowing painting. The children then followed the steps to create their paintings. Finally, they stamped their paintings with traditional Chinese seals such as "Peace" or "Between Grass and Trees," completing unique winter plum blossom paintings. Chinese New Year has arrived on February 17th, to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Ms. Qiu gave each child a panda bookmark with the character "福" (fortune) on it and taught them auspicious phrases such as "Happy New Year" and "Great Fortune in the Year of the Horse," adding a festive atmosphere to the experience.
After the activities, the Confucius Institute gave each child a French-language Chinese storybook. The children were delighted with their books and expressed their interest in the Chinese language and culture.