Courses currently offered by the Confucius Institute
Level 1 Mandarin Classes will be held on Tuesdays, from 4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
Level 2 Mandarin Classes will be held on Wednesdays, from 4:20 P.M. – 5:50 P.M.
Classes commence the week of September 16, 2025. Deadline to register is September 14, 2025. V.I.P. classes will be mutually determined by the student and instructor.
Taste of Chinese Culture classes will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays from 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M., commencing September 23, 2025. Each module/topic is held for both days. Registration deadline is September 19, 2025.
HSK3 Preparation Class will be held on Saturdays, from 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M., commencing September 6, 2025. Registration deadline is September 3, 2025.
Guzheng Classes will be held on Sundays, in two (2) groups, from 3:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. (Group 1), and 4:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. (Group 2). Enrolment from September 14, 2025.
Chinese Calligraphy classes will be held on Tuesdays, from 6:00 P.M – 7:30 P.M, commencing September 30, 2025. Space is limited. Registration deadline is September 29, 2025.
Payment for classes must be made at the UWI Cashiers’, located on the ground level of the Hilary McDonald Beckles Administrative Complex.
To register, or for further information, please email ConfuciusInstitute@cavehill.uwi.edu.
How does China build its national park system? (substack.com)
By the end of 2019, China had established more than 9,000 various types of nature reserves, including 1.1 million square kilometers of national parks, 1.8 million square kilometers of nature reserves, and over 3 million square kilometers of ecological redline control areas. These protected areas account for approximately 18 percent of the country’s land area.
Gansu Travelogue 4: Leaving Gansu for Sichuan (Over the Hills and Far Away) (feelingthestones.com)
This may come as a surprise: If you want to travel in China the way its ever-growing middle class does, statistically speaking, that means you should skip the shiny symbol of modern technological achievement - the high-speed rail - in favor of the humble 20th-century automobile. During the 2025 Spring Festival, nearly 80% of the 900 million person-trips undertaken across the country were in automobiles, showing how for holiday family outings, the car remains king.
Flexibility and affordability are the key points here. Round-trip rail tickets for a family of four can really add up, making the car the cheaper option. And, as robust and impressive as China’s rail system is, it still simply can’t compare with the sheer coverage of the road network, especially when it comes to the kind of lesser-known destinations I’m most fond of.
Inside a Chinese tutor’s livestream (gingerriver.com)
This summer, I watched quite a few short clips from livestreams by Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese internet personality. A northeast-born, Henan-educated, plain-spoken, non-elite tutor, Zhang offers shrewd advice on gaokao (China’s annual college entrance exam) and graduate school applications—guiding students on which universities, majors, and programs to choose. His blunt style has stirred plenty of controversy, often landing him on the trending lists of Chinese social media.
…In my view, what makes Zhang notable is not only his advice, but also the exchanges that unfold in his livestreams with students, teachers, and parents. These conversations reveal much about the realities of contemporary China—the concerns people carry, the direction of industry, and the pulse of society itself.
From drones to robots: tourists flock to China to glimpse a ‘cyberpunk’ future | South China Morning Post
When Marc Guyon, a French national based in Hong Kong, decided to visit Shanghai in early August, the main attraction was not the city’s art deco architecture, but its driverless taxis and hotel delivery robots.
“It’s super impressive – China looks futuristic,” he said. “It seems like all expats have the same reaction. Many of them share content online, and so do I.”
This kind of reaction is becoming increasingly common as China experiences a wave of “tech tourism” – a social media-driven trend where visitors fly into the country specifically to seek out its advanced technology and urban landscapes.
For China’s youth, traditional Chinese medicine is cool again | South China Morning Post
China’s youth are more focused on health and well-being compared to previous generations – and are embracing traditional medicine through viral trends, classes and treatments.
Looks like an airship, acts like a windmill. Engineer says China on brink of turbine leap | South China Morning Post
Chinese scientists expect to soon make a breakthrough in airborne wind turbine technology, with the world’s first megawatt-level system set to take flight, according to the project team.
The floating wind power generation system resembles an airship and is being held up as a possible power solution for remote locations and disaster zones where conventional power supplies cannot be used or are inadequate.
The researchers said their system’s output – more than 30 times more powerful than the best in other countries – could turn a scientific vision first proposed in 1957 by renowned scientist Qian Xuesen into a tangible reality.
Chinese man sold by teenage lover to Myanmar fraud ring freed after family pays US$48,000 | South China Morning Post
A court in China will hear a case involving a 17-year-old girl accused of selling her 19-year-old boyfriend to a scam hub in Myanmar for 100,000 yuan (US$14,000).
The man, known as Huang, was released by the scam ring at the end of June after his family paid 350,000 yuan (US$48,000).
He was held there for nearly four months, during which time he received frequent beatings, leading to his deafness.
The case aroused widespread attention on mainland social media as Huang’s sister shared her brother’s plight online, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
This weekly newsletter is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Visit us at Association for Barbados China Friendship | (abcf-bb.com).
Thanks to everyone who sent contributions for this week’s Update. Please send items of interest to me via the contact page at ABCF-BB.com or to info@DeLisleWorrell.com
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
