Sinologists pose for a photo at the end of the Xidi village tour, July 18, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The 2016 Visiting Program for Young Sinologists concluded on July 22, with a closing ceremony attended by Minister of Culture Luo Shugang and deputy dean of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Cai Fang.

During the past 20 days, 31 Sinologists from 26 countries conducted research and studied at several institutes in Beijing and travelled to Anhui province to study local culture and history.

Hosted by the China Ministry of Culture and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the program aims to provide a platform for young Sinologists to better understand China and meet scholars in the same areas.

Let's hear what some of the Sinologists have to say about what they learnt from the program.

Hannes Dekeyser attends a lecture in Beijing during the 2016 Visiting Program for Young Sinologists. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Hannes Dekeyser (Belgium), programme Coordinator, European Institute for Asian Studies

"During the program, I got access to Tsinghua University. If I go there independently, it won't be very easy for me to knock on the door of famous professors like Hu Angang, and have a personal conversation. Another benefit from the trip for me was that I was able to meet people all around the world working on the similar issue. And it is good that Sinologists from the trip can exchange views and have different perspectives of China. Anhui, for foreign tourists, is less known than other parts of China, but I think it is something that should and could be visited more. I had a short but very positive impression. It's nice in the trip to meet people who have initial focus on Chinese language and culture, because they show to me that it is interesting, important and valuable to master the language."