Chinese team shines at international creativity contest

Delegates for team China enter the arena as part of the welcome ceremony during the 2014 Destination Imagination global final celebration at Thompson-Boling Arena, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)

Destination Imagination, known simply as "DI", is the world's largest creative thinking and problem solving competition for young students. The 2014 edition has just concluded in Knoxville in Tennessee.

This year's competition featured more Chinese contestants than ever berfore. Backstage at this year's Destination Imagination competition, a team from Beijing is making final preparations. They've built a magnetic arm which they will use to find 10 hidden items in 16 boxes at the upcoming challenge.

As the competition's name suggests, "DI" has turned the university campus into a fun land of brainstorming.

Wei Zhen is one of the judges of this year's competition and the only judge from China. He says the Chinese team did well on the mechanical sections but still has a long way to go in terms of artistic presentation and improv.

"The American contestants will explain how they did something down to every little detail while the Chinese contestants will just answer the questions the judge asks without elaborating. We're still making progress here and it's pretty impressive," Wei said.

The competition is not just about winning the big prize but also about meeting the challenge and having fun.

"You mustn't be afraid of making mistakes. For us Chinese, if you make a mistake, it's over, there's no second chance. For the Americans each time they make a mistake, it's just ruling out one possibility, through trial and error - that's the crucial part of creativity," Wei said.

Chinese students have grown from seven students participating eight years ago to more than 600 this year. Last year, China came third on the awards table right after the U.S. and Canada. According to challenge organizers, next year's "Destination Imagination" will be held in China.