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Cultural centers

While a Confucius Institute's program is often defined by the institute's connection with a higher education institution, the institute acts more like a traditional cultural center when host universities are unavailable.

The Confucius Institute of Hanover, Germany, for example, joined the Chinese Center of Hanover instead of the local university.

"At the time, when the Chinese government decided to establish the Confucius Institutes, there was no university in Lower Saxony with a Sinology/Chinese studies department," said Bettina Greiss, director of the Confucius Institute of Hanover.

"But since the Chinese Center of Hanover had already assumed tasks which were later declared as core business of the Confucius Institute, such as language courses and cultural events, it was negotiated that the Confucius Institutes for the area of Lower Saxony should be launched within the Chinese Center."

The institute is run from a small office with few staff, which puts it at a disadvantage with institutes attached to universities, which can not only draw on the universities' physical resources, but also have a highly accessible market in the university's students.

Griess said that has forced the institute to be more aggressive in connecting with the community.

"It compels us to go out, which again we see as an advantage."

In many cases, that has pushed the center to expand its reach beyond just one student body connecting several universities and cultural institutions in the region to host events and language instruction.

"In this way, we reach and encourage people of different ages and backgrounds to study Chinese," she said.

"Our activities are not limited by the focus of a partner university, but we expand them to the whole state of Lower Saxony and even to neighboring Saxony-Anhalt."

With less emphasis on helping the university establish a Chinese-language curriculum, cultural activities often trump the center's other tasks, which Griess said is crucial to helping people of all ages understand China.

"To improve the mutual understanding of different cultures, it's not enough to just teach the correct vocabulary. You have to explain specific cultural characteristics and point out cultural differences as well. So I would declare language teaching and cultural teaching as equal parts of the Confucius Institute's mission."

Contact the author at: toddbalazovic@chinadaily.com.cn