GDANSK, Poland, June 7 (Xinhua) -- "One evening in a Beijing courtyard, I sat around a steaming pot of hotpot with people from different countries," recalled Zuzanna Elzbieta Koszalka, speaking in Chinese. "In that moment, I saw what it means to be one family under the sky."

For Koszalka, a university student from the northern Polish city of Gdansk, learning Chinese has meant more than mastering tones and characters. It has offered her a new way to understand the world -- one where cultural differences become bridges, not barriers.

Her experience was echoed on Friday at the University of Gdansk, where 50 Polish students from primary schools to universities gathered for the 2025 Poland Regional Final of the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition.

Organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Gdansk and supported by the Chinese Embassy in Poland, the competition grouped participants into three divisions by age: university, secondary school, and primary school. Each contestant delivered a themed speech, answered cultural questions, and performed talents ranging from Chinese folk dance to calligraphy and opera.

Mikolaj Rychlo, a professor and vice dean of the university's Faculty of Languages, told the students at the opening ceremony that learning Chinese is a journey that expands one's worldview, which helps "adopt different perspectives and look at the world in a new way," he said. "Enjoy it!"

"Learning Chinese gave me not just knowledge, but a new outlook," university contestant Filip Tomasz Wierzbowski said. "Now I understand what it means when Chinese people say, 'Within the four seas, all are brothers.' We can admire the same moon -- from both China's Yangtze River and Poland's Vistula (river) alike."

This year's event was not only the largest Polish edition of the "Chinese Bridge" competition in recent years, but also the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe by participation, reflecting the growing appeal of the Chinese language and culture in Poland and beyond.

Guan Yu, associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Gdansk, said this enthusiasm reflects deeper trends. "For many Polish students, Chinese is no longer an exotic language," he said. "It's becoming part of their everyday life -- something tangible, something real."

According to Guan, motivations among students are diverse, ranging from cultural passion to practical goals such as international education and career development. As Chinese companies, technologies, and cultural products reach further across the globe, the ability to speak Chinese is increasingly seen as a gateway to new opportunities.

Maria Lejczak, a primary school student from Gdynia, a port city on the Baltic coast of Poland, won last year's competition for young learners. At this year's opening ceremony, she took the stage in traditional Chinese costume and performed a traditional local Huangmei opera song.

Speaking to Xinhua earlier, Lejczak, who has been studying Chinese for five years, said that through learning the language, she came to admire the hardworking and dedicated spirit of the Chinese people, fueling her dream of one day studying at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai. ■