NEW DELHI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Chinese Bridge Chinese Language Proficiency Competition for Foreign University Students India Regional Final was held Friday in New Delhi.

The competition hosted by the Chinese Embassy in India, tested the ability of participants to use the Chinese language in a creative and expressive manner.

The students showcased their talents through various performances involving dancing to popular Chinese music.

They enthralled the audience through various acts like trying out tongue twisters in Chinese language, reciting Chinese poetry and singing in Chinese.

The talent section of the competition enabled the participants to combine their skills and talents to the culture and traditions of China. They showcased art and craft forms like paper cutting and calligraphy.

The winners were announced at the end of the programme with Uma Shankar from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University winning the 1st prize. The 2nd prize was won by Yogesh from Mumbai University and Prakshal from Mumbai University bagged the 3rd prize.

The study of Chinese language is getting more and more popular in India over years with the country's prestigious universities like Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University conducting courses on the language.

Saloni, who has already completed a two year diploma course in Chinese language from Delhi university is fascinated by the language because of its characters. "The interest I developed in the language is because of its characters. There are stories behind every character of the Chinese language. And these stories are influenced by the local culture and myths. And these stories behind the characters are very interesting."

Parit who is also learning Chinese at Delhi University said "I always want to do out of box, so I opted for Chinese. It's a little bit tough language and needs lots of practice. But I like the whole experience of learning Chinese."