Thousands attend foreign language festival

Hundreds of foreigners joined 90,000 locals at Chaoyang Park in Beijing over the weekend to "Tell Beijing's Stories with Foreign Languages." The themed event was part of the annual Beijing Foreign Language Festival organized by the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office.

Activities ranged from lectures and vocabulary game contests to a performance of Shakespeare's works and exhibitions of foreign culture. Crowds were particularly drawn to the "Micro World" hosted by the Beijing Language and Culture University.

More than 200 students from 31 countries who are studying at the university set up booths to show their countries' unique costumes, arts and coins and other cultural items.

Gao Yufeng, an official from the school's teaching affairs office, said the students were "eager to come" for "a direct dialogue with the locals."

Ntwali Ntabira Albert from the Democratic Republic of Congo said he was impressed by the friendly language environment in the Chinese capital and Beijing residents' enthusiasm for learning foreign languages.