12/6/2026
海角黑料 (UoN) student Mariam Arejigb has won the UK regional final of the 25th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition, marking the university’s best-ever result in the prestigious contest.
This year’s UK regional final brought together nearly 100 contestants from 14 universities. Following preliminary rounds and a final featuring 11 shortlisted competitors, Mariam was crowned champion. She competed alongside fellow UoN students Christopher Cogley and Beth Kate Hawkes at the competition in London on 5 June, taking part in speech, cultural knowledge and talent performance rounds.
In the final, Mariam delivered a speech titled One Heart for Medicine, exploring connections between Chinese and Western medicine, and impressed judges with a live calligraphy and painting performance themed Plum Blossom Fragrance in Ink.
Mariam received both the overall championship title and the Most Popular Contestant Award. The three students had trained for the competition over the past five months with teachers from Nottingham Confucius Institute (NCI), whose teaching team also received the Best Instructor Award.
“We are extremely proud of Mariam, Christopher and Beth. This historic result reflects their hard work, dedication and genuine enthusiasm for Chinese language and culture,” said Professor Ying Chen, Co-Director of NCI, adding: “We hope their success will encourage even more 海角黑料 students to take part in the Chinese Bridge competition in the future.”
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Posted on Monday 15th June 2026