BBC China ‘Christmas cracker’ at King’s
14 Dec 2009, PR 272/09
King’s joined up with the BBC World Service, Chinese Service for a live ‘Christmas Celebration’ quiz show, on Sunday 13 December in the Franklin Wilkins Building, Waterloo Campus. The show was filmed and streamed live over the internet to thousands of viewers on BBC China, Sina.com and qq.com, some of China’s largest web portals.This show was the first time for the BBC China to undertake online video broadcasting simultaneously in the UK and China, with two of the biggest Chinese portal websites involved. The event also featured a live telephone link to viewers across the UK.
The show was part of a BBC China series under the motto ‘Educate, Inform and Entertain’, which aims to give overseas Chinese students a better understanding of British culture. The first event, ‘Getting to Know Britain Better’, was held at City University in October, was a resounding success for King’s with a team of MA students becoming proud winners of the competition. The winners returned to Sunday’s show with an impressive singing performance of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.
For the quiz, a number of students were selected at random from the live audience of over 300 students, including a Law student from King’s, to compete over questions on British Christmas traditions. In a second round, the Chinese students were paired up with British counterparts to compete in an English vocabulary challenge before the overall winners were announced, who will have the opportunity to do an internship with the BBC Chinese Service and spend Christmas with a British family.
Ralph Parfect, Assistant Director of King's China Institute, explains why the College got involved: ‘It was exciting to partner with the BBC Chinese Service for such an innovative show, and we are delighted that it was a resounding success. King’s has many links with China including a large community of Chinese students at the College and we are always looking for ways to promote intercultural understanding and friendship. This is one of the reasons we are establishing the King’s China Institute, for example, so the concept of the show was a perfect fit for King’s and we were proud to be hosting this Christmas special!’
Fanli Bai, Director of C Cubed Media who produced the show for the BBC commented: ‘The objective of the show was to provide a fun way for Chinese students in China and the UK to learn more about British life. As I am a graduate of the University of London myself, I feel obliged to help Chinese overseas students to understand British culture better, to ultimately have a wider view of the world and to become more open-minded.'
More information and pictures of the event can be found on the BBC China website.
Notes to editors
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2009) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.
King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
Further information
Melanie Haberstroh
International Public Relations Officer
Email: melanie.haberstroh@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 3076
This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
Tel: 020-7848 3202 Fax: 020-7848 3739 Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk