By Rae Yen Tan

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The distance between China and Kentucky is about 7,000 miles, but UK’s Confucious Institute helps make the distance seem much smaller.

UKCI was established in 2012 to bring Chinese culture to the Bluegrass. According to Huanjing Maske, UKCI’s director and the executive director of the office of China initiatives the institute was formed “to serve as a gateway and window to China in Chinese language, arts, education and business for UK and for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

The organization works to “boost China-related studies on campus,” and “expand educational collaborations” with universities and campuses in China. UKCI won Confucius Institute of the Year in 2012 and 2014 and competes with over 400 Confucius Institutes in 115 countries for the title,

UKCI’s major goal is to help UK students and faculty learn and appreciate Chinese language and culture.

There are free Chinese culture classes like martial arts, Chinese painting and learning hot to play erhu, a Chinese fiddle, as well as language courses. UKCI has scholarships for UK students to study in China, if they first take the HSK test, which is a Chinese language proficiency test. UKCI partners with top universities in China such as Shanghai University, Jilin University, and the Capital Sports Normal University, Xi’an Jiaotong University.

The Confucius Institute also sponsors student summer study tours in China. Maske said that UKIC pays for the in-China portion of the trip for students.

“UKCI works with most of the UK colleges to serve the colleges’ China initiatives,” Maske said. “UKCI sends UK faculty to teach on the Chinese campus. By doing so, UK faculty not only expands their teaching experience, but also have the opportunities to connect with the Chinese faculty to foster potential collaborative research.”

UKCI sets up 2 Plus 2 Programs with different UK colleges to bring more diversity to UK. Through this, university students from China come to study at UK for their junior and senior years.

Outside of the UK community, The Confucious Institute reaches out to the Lexington community and Fayette Co. k-12 schools. UKCI provides students with the opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture through summer camps and language classes. As well, high school students can receive help with their AP exams and compete in a Chinese proficiancy competition. The winner travels to Washington D.C. for the national competition.

High school students and Educators are also able to travel to China. The institute helps to pay for a portion of the trip. If a trip to China isn’t ideal, schools can have Chinese culture demonstrations in the classroom.

The Confucius Institute hosts the Distinguished Scholar Speakers Series, where four scholars are chosen yearly to give academic talks on China-related subjects.

Every fall, students enter the “China in my Lands” photo contest to try to win cash prizes.

In January 2016, UKCI will host “China Meets West,” a traditional Chinese costumes and music show. It will be a free event at Transylvania University’s theater.