iong Ziqing, a student from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), ranked among the world’s top seven after competing with nearly 100 speakers from over 50 countries in the 38^th International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC). 

Before this, in the National Final of the 23rd China Daily "21st Century Coca-Cola Cup" English Speech Contest, Xiong had won the national third place and the title of "Most Creative Speaker" as a representative of SISU.

The family story of three generations of SISUers

In the 1960s, Xiong’s grandmother studied in SISU. In the 1980s, Xiong’s mother studied in SISU. As the third generation of SISUers, Xiong came to study in 2016 to be a "multilingual +" international talent and introduce Chinese stories to foreigners on the podium.

Since Xiong was six years old, his grandmother and mother have become his English teachers and he has grown interest in English. Having been influenced by his family, Xiong finally chose to study further at SISU.

In the National Finals of the 23rd China Daily "21st Century Coca-Cola Cup" English Speech Contest, Xiong shared the story of his family, with the speech titled "My Dreams - Telling Chinese Stories in a New Era."

In the 38^th IPSC, Xiong gave a speech named “Two Created Stories”. He shared the English learning experience of three generations in his family.

A brilliant young man’s own story at SISU

Majoring in English, Xiong is also a student of SISU’S first Multilingual Experimental Class of Honor College. He has received the interdisciplinary training of two disciplines of foreign language and literature and political science.

After class, Xiong enjoys many activities in campus life. He is a member of the "thinking forum" of the school, an actor on stage, as well as a football player who won the championship in this year's Sports Meeting at SISU. Besides, as a core force responsible for editing the "hot words translation" section of its WeChat public platform, Xiong translates hot issues and hot world of  today's China into English.

Sharpen the skill, build the future

Xiong spent his last summer at Georgetown University where he took English speaking classes. From square dancing to bicycle sharing, he told stories about his hometown, and got feedback of teachers and students from all over the world.

He also visited CCTV North America Branch to hear the famous journalist Wang Guan talking about his experience of telling stories of China in America.

How to tell a good Chinese story? Xiong has always been thinking and practicing. Last fall, he volunteered to host Harvard students on SISU campus. During this period, a Harvard student bought a copy of The Analects of Confucius. Xiong translated it and explained Confucius thoughts to them.

With Xiong’s help, Harvard students admired many ideas in The Analects, which built a friendship between young Chinese and American. And this incident helps Xiong realize that the key to tell the Chinese story is to dig out everything that is common to us Chinese and use the power of speaking to tell the story well to the world.

“Never take anything for granted.” With the spirit he learned from his mentor Gu Qiubei, Xiong is on his way to discover unique Chinese stories and speak them out loud.