An artist performs during the sacrificing ceremony to Confucius at the Confucian Temple in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, September 28, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Yong Zhao, director of the Confucius Institute at the Michigan State University, devised an online game for his students to learn Chinese and attracted many young learners.

To help kids living in remote mountain areas to learn Chinese, the Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas established a remote-learning class.

Some residents there told the media that without the Confucius Institute, a US kid living in those mountain areas can hardly have a chance to learn Chinese.

The Institute has successfully narrowed the gap between China and these US kids, they said.

As more and more top US universities have vied with one another to open Confucius institutes on their campus, scholars and government officials have joined the ordinary people to learn the Chinese language and culture.

Liu Quanshen, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that many of the students at his institute are government employees.

"It is a strong indication that the Confucius Institute has reached the mainstream society of the United States," he said.

US scholar Joseph Nye, who initiated the concept of "soft power," said the expansion of Confucius Institute indicates the rise of China's soft power since it opened to the outside world.

Observers here noted that China's development over the last three decades is probably one of the most successful development story in history, with its success far beyond the economic sphere.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2008)