The road to the finals of the "21st Century Cup" is a long and winding one.
The competition is divided into three rounds: a national composition contest,
regional finals and national finals.
ˇ¤National Composition Contest
Eligibility: Hundreds of invitations go every June to all degree-granting
Chinese universities and colleges.
Schedule: Each June -September
Format: Entrants submit a 500-word essay and a cassette recording in which
the student reads aloud his/her essay in English. A panel of Chinese and foreign
English language experts evaluates the essays and selects applicants from each
region for telephone interviews.
ˇ¤Four Regional Finals
Eligibility: The top 30 contestants representing universities in each region
compete in regional finals.
Schedule: Each October-November
Locations: Municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions across China are
divided into four regions. The regions are as follows:
North Region (Beijing, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Inner
Mongolia)
East Region (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong)
South Region (Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan)
West Region (Xinjiang, Xizang, Qinghai, Ningxia, Shannxi, Gansu, Guizhou,
Sichuan, Chongqing, Henan, Hebei, Shanxi)
Format: In regional finals, each contestant presents a prepared speech,
performs an impromptu speech and participates in a question-and-answer session.
ˇ¤National Finals:
Eligibility: In the finals, the top 40 students from regional finals are
joined by 10 contestants from the seed universities plus contestants from Hong
Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other Asian countries-in all 60 contestants.
Schedule: Each April
Location: Major cities across China
Format: This round of competition is comprised of semi-finals and finals.
Each contestant present a prepared speech on a designated topic, delivers a
two-minute impromptu speech on a topic given 20 minutes before going on stage;
and then answers questions raised by question masters.
