The IGS Bonn-Beuel congratulates the Shude-High-School Chengdu to its 80th anniversary in 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear colleagues,
I am delighted and honored to have been invited to be with you today, here in Chengdu.
When I visited your country for the first time nine years ago I was very impressed by the experiences I made and decided that I would engage myself in learning much more about China. When I came to Chengdu for the first time seven years ago, I was overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality I experienced here and was delighted about the interest you showed in my town of Bonn and my school there.
From that day on we have organized regular student exchanges, giving many young people the chance to get to know each other and experience each other’s cultures in an unforgettable way. These exchanges are our opportunity to support intercultural dialogue.
Five years ago my school in Bonn, as one of the first in Germany, began to offer Chinese as foreign language course to our students up to their high school graduation. Since then, every year there have been about 30 students joining these courses. The first of these Chinese language students have already graduated and have high hopes for their future to benefit from already having gained knowledge of your language and culture.
This year I was asked, after 12 years, to return to politics of/in our town of Bonn and I am happy to already be able to share some good news with you here, today:
The City Council of Bonn agreed in their last meeting the wording for a friendship treaty between our two towns of Chengdu and Bonn. Based on this treaty of friendship we will be able to succeed even more in developing the international an intercultural exchange between our two towns. The main focus of the exchange will be on the areas of sustainable development, economy, culture, technology, education, tourism, urban development, environmental protection and occupational / vocational training. Additionally, the agreement shall encourage and facilitate future communication and cooperation of societies, organizations and institutions of both towns. The treaty will grant the cooperative relations between Chengdu and Bonn and a higher priority is appreciated also by the diplomatic missions of both countries.
I have brought a small present along for the occasion of your anniversary. It is “our Beethoven”, for whom we are planning a new festival hall in Bonn. I would be delighted to welcome you all there for its opening in four years time. Also I have brought along a DVD with pictures of our school, our town and the “Children’s Hymn of Bonn”, which was developed in cooperation with the Beethoven Orchestra to offer a musical welcome to the town of Bonn to our international guests.
I would like to congratulate you and your Shude-High-School to its anniversary and wish you all the best for the future. Let’s together develop and shape the Chinese-German relationship!
Bonn/Chengdu April 2009
Jürgen Nimptsch, Principal
Gratulation Chinesisch and