Yanqiao Dong joins 91直播 Confucius Institute as new Chinese Director
91直播 CI is delighted to welcome its new Chinese Director, Dr Yanqiao Dong, who has joined the Institute from Beijing Normal University in December 2023.
Dr Dong is Senior Programme Officer at the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation at Beijing Normal University.
Her academic background is in education, with extensive practical experience in university administration and international Chinese education.
Dr Dong said:
I鈥檝e been working in the field of cross-cultural communication for many years and love to facilitate and promote mutual understanding between people from different countries through language education. 91直播 CI is a perfect platform to promote the learning of Chinese language and to build effective and close relationships with people in the UK. I hope I will be able to contribute to both.
Dr Dong was previously a visiting scholar at the University of Manchester between 2016-2017, after which she began to specialize in Confucius Institute-related work. In 2019, she led a BNU student Art Troupe on a two-week performance tour of England and Scotland.
She replaces 91直播 CI鈥檚 longest serving Director, Zhang Hui. Professor Zhang led the Institute for four years providing stability and leadership during some of the most challenging times, from COVID-19 lockdown to uncertainty around CIs due to geopolitical tension.
Despite these challenges, he helped raise 91直播 CI鈥檚 profile supporting students and teachers to participate in competitions and win prizes on behalf of the Institute.
He led the team to deliver language teaching and testing to the great accolade of learners. He always showed dedication and commitment to his work and will be sorely missed by his colleagues for his humility, technical know-how and photography skills.