On March 14th, 2026, Chinese teacher of the Confucius Institute in Artois Qiu Shuzhen was invited to Lycée Sainte-Marie de Beaucamps-Ligny to conduct a Chinese Ink-blowing Painting Workshop in support of the school's Open Day and the recruitment of Chinese courses. The event lasted three and a half hours and was attended by more than two hundred pupils and their parents.
The open day event spanned a considerable period, with many parents and students moving between different language classrooms and exhibition booths. Ms. Qiu had prepared a hands-on ink-blowing painting experience area in advance, providing students and parents with materials including Chinese and French explanations of Wang Anshi's poem "Plum Blossom," completed ink-blowing plum blossom works, and instructions for creating the painting. The pupils were able to successfully create their own ink-blowing paintings by following the steps, while parents could enjoy appreciating the ancient Chinese poem and the finished ink-blowing artworks. At the same time, Ms. Qiu actively interacted with the participating students and parents, inviting students to try saying "hello," "thank you," and "goodbye" in Chinese.
The final step in the ink-blowing painting workshop was stamping the artwork. Ms. Qiu explained the meaning of the two characters "平安" (peace and secure) on the stamp and gave each participant a panda bookmark as a small gift. During the process, Ms. Qiu also encouraged students to actively enroll in Chinese classes next semester so they could experience more Chinese cultural projects in China in the future.
This workshop was welcomed and appreciated by the school's teachers, students, and parents, and contributed to the enrollment of Chinese language programs in local schools.