Anniversary celebration · 16 October 2026

10 Years

Two cultures, countless encounters. A look back at our tenth anniversary celebration.

两种文化，无数相遇

Friday, 16 October 20262 pm to 10 pmTechnische Hochschule Ingolstadt

Review

A celebration of encounters

十周年 · shí zhōunián · tenth anniversary

From classical Chinese music to Taichi and robotics to trilingual hip hop: on 16 October 2026, the Audi Confucius Institute Ingolstadt celebrated its tenth anniversary with a varied festive programme. Numerous guests from politics, academia, business and culture came together at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt to look back on ten years of exchange between Germany and China and to celebrate together.

Since it was founded in 2016, the institute has been bringing people from Germany and China together. What began as a joint commitment of Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI) and South China University of Technology (SCUT) has grown over ten years into a wide programme of language teaching, culture and academic and economic cooperation.

More than 2,500 people have taken part in the Chinese courses so far. On top of that come around 230 events and trips: concerts, exhibitions, lectures, tea ceremonies, calligraphy workshops and offers on Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taichi and Qigong.

Jing Chen on stage, the welcome message on the screen behind her — **Jing Chen**, Managing Director of the AKII, welcomes the guests

Stack of magazines with German and Chinese covers — 10 Jahre and 十周年: one magazine, two covers

01 · Ceremony · 2 pm

Good wishes from Germany and China

讲 jiǎng · to speak

How much encounters matter, especially in a changing world, was something every speaker at the ceremony emphasised. Prof. Dr. Walter Schober, President of THI, recalled the importance of personal exchange. Prof. Dr. Bo Wu, Vice President of the partner university SCUT, looked back at the beginnings: first friendly contacts in 2013, the signing of the agreement in 2016, the opening in 2017. This created the world’s first Confucius Institute set up together with a multinational company. “Language is the best key to getting to know a country. Culture is the most stable bridge for understanding between people,” said Wu, closing with a Chinese proverb: “For those who share the same goals, mountains and seas are no obstacle.”

Prof. Dr. Georg Rosenfeld, Executive Board member of IFG Ingolstadt, underlined what the institute means for Ingolstadt as a place for business and science. Ming Deng, Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Munich, gave a welcome address, accompanied by Qingwen Liu, Consul for Education. Further guests included Axel Römer of AUDI AG, a founding member of the institute, as well as guests from partner Confucius Institutes in Germany and in Lancaster and from academia, business and politics.

Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, Dr. Yueqi Wu, Jing ChenDirectors and Managing Director, Audi Confucius Institute Ingolstadt

Prof. Dr. Walter SchoberPresident of Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt

Prof. Dr. Bo WuVice President of South China University of Technology

Prof. Dr. Georg RosenfeldExecutive Board, IFG Ingolstadt

Ming DengDeputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Munich

Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, Dr. Yueqi Wu and Jing Chen welcome the guests at the lectern — **Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, Dr. Yueqi Wu and Jing Chen** welcome the guests

Prof. Dr. Bo Wu at the lectern — **Prof. Dr. Bo Wu**, Vice President of SCUT

Ming Deng at the lectern — **Ming Deng**, Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Munich

Guests of honour from Germany and China in front of the stage — **Guests of honour** from Germany and China, from left: Qingnian Wang, Prof. Dr. Bo Wu, Prof. Dr. Walter Schober, Ming Deng, Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, Prof. Dr. Georg Rosenfeld, Qingwen Liu and Dr. Yueqi Wu

qiáo · the bridge

“A good bridge needs two things: a solid structure and people who use it.”
Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, German Director of AKII

02 · Exhibition · 3 pm

A hall full of goats

羊年绘画比赛 · 展览

All 58 entries to the Year of the Goat painting competition were on display in large format on easels, painted by children, teenagers and adults. During the coffee break, guests went from picture to picture, cast their vote at the ballot box and tasted Chinese tea. Both the guests’ votes and the jury’s verdict count in choosing the twelve pictures for the 2027 wall calendar. We will announce the result after the exhibition ends on 30 October.

Detail of the painting Curiosity by Elisabeth Hetzer: a white young goat against a dark background

Works: 58
Format: DIN A1 on easels
Selection: Audience and jury, result after 30 October

Row of easels with the paintings from the competition — The exhibition in the hall · 16 October 2026

Veronika M. Dutz next to her painting Líng — **Veronika M. Dutz** with her painting 灵 Líng

Red ballot box with the inscription 投票箱 — 投票箱 · The ballot box

Serving Chinese tea — Tea during the break

The exhibition

All works and the catalogue to browse on a page of their own.

To the exhibition

03 · Auto-mobile · 3:30 pm

The world’s first auto-mobile

动 dòng · to move

How far back the exchange between Europe and China goes was shown by Ingolstadt historian Dr. Dr. Gerd Treffer and Prof. Dr. Thomas Suchandt, mechanical engineer and Vice President for Research and Transfer at THI. In the 17th century, the Flemish Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest, chief astronomer at the court of the Chinese emperor, developed a steam powered vehicle.

Based on Treffer’s research, Suchandt, his colleague Prof. Wen‑Bin Shangguan from SCUT and students from both universities rebuilt the vehicle and proved that it could drive. One of the five models was on show in the hall.

Full steam: test drive of one of the replicas at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt

Prof. Dr. Thomas Suchandt presenting the replica of the Verbiest vehicle — **Prof. Dr. Thomas Suchandt** presents the replica

Guests looking at the replica with stainless steel boiler and wooden frame — **The replica** with stainless steel boiler and wooden frame, after Ferdinand Verbiest, 1678

04 · Study trip · 4 pm

A journey to the Middle Kingdom

体验中国 · tǐyàn Zhōngguó · experiencing China

The students Tara Walter and Kishan Rebwar reported on their study trip to southern China. With photos and personal impressions, they took the audience to a region where centuries of history and modern city life meet head on.

西安Xi’an

1,600 km · about seven hours by high speed train

广州Guangzhou

13days

2cities

20participants

1,600km by train

Tara Walter and Kishan Rebwar reporting on the study trip on stage — **Tara Walter and Kishan Rebwar** report on the trip

Figures of the Terracotta Army in Xi’an — **The Terracotta Army** in Xi’an

The illuminated Bell Tower in Xi’an at night — **The Bell Tower** in Xi’an at night

Tara Walter at the lectern — **Tara Walter** giving her talk

Guangzhou skyline at night — **Guangzhou** at night

Street food stall with steaming bowls — **Street food** on the way

The full travel report “Between City Wall and Skyline” is in the magazine (in German and Chinese).

To the magazine

05 · Music and dance · 4:30 pm

An ensemble from Guangzhou

声 shēng · sound

The artists of the partner university SCUT showed how varied the forms of Chinese culture can be. Traditional music on pipa and erhu, classical singing and dance offered a glimpse into China’s musical and dance traditions.

Pipa player in a white dress on stage — **Jiaxin Liu**, pipa

Singer with pipa and erhu on stage — **Gangyi Chen**, vocals, with Jiaxin Liu and Lin Huang

Erhu player in a blue and white dress — **Lin Huang**, erhu

Dancer in an ochre robe — **Jian Gao**, dance

Musicians, dancer and guests of honour together on stage — **The ensemble** with the guests of honour

Ambush from Ten Sides十面埋伏 · pipa solo

Birdsong in a Desolate Mountain空山鸟语 · erhu solo

Quiet Night Thoughts静夜思 · vocals, after Li Bai

Horse Racing赛马 · erhu and pipa duet

After Autumn秋日后 · classical dance

The Lovely Rose可爱的一朵玫瑰花 · Kazakh folk song

06 · On stage · 5 pm

Luca, the “colleague of the future”

模 mó · to imitate, as in 模仿 mófǎng

That cultural exchange and technology belong together was shown by the surprise guest of the day. Luca, a humanoid robot programmed by Chinese scientists, quickly became the audience’s favourite. In conversation with Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, Director of AKII, he gave a talk on Eastern and Western ways of thinking and intercultural understanding.

Then Luca showed his talent for movement: he watched the dancer Jian Gao and the Taichi group led by Dr. Xinchi Yuan‑Chlosta and imitated their movements. Technically impressive, even if the elegance and expressiveness of his human role models were still missing.

The humanoid robot is introduced on stage — **Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer** introduces Luca the robot

Luca joins the dance

Taichi group in red and white suits — **Taichi** with the group led by Dr. Xinchi Yuan‑Chlosta

Annabelle Fenzel in a red qipao at the microphone — **Annabelle Fenzel**, 12, has been learning Chinese at AKII for two years. Last year she won third prize at the “Chinese Bridge” competition.

07 · Gifts

Thank you for the gifts

礼 lǐ · the gift

For the anniversary, partners and guests brought us gifts, and we say a warm thank you. We gave something in return, too: a piece of Ingolstadt.

Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer and Ming Deng hold up the scroll Qianli jiangshan tu — **“Qianli jiangshan tu” 千里江山图**Ming Deng, Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Munich, and Qingwen Liu, Consul for Education, presented a scroll after the landscape painting “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains”, painted by Wang Ximeng in 1113. It is one of China’s most famous paintings and stands for the vastness of the Chinese landscape and the harmony between people and nature.

Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer and Prof. Dr. Bo Wu show a calligraphy with the saying 三人行必有我师 — **三人行必有我师 · sān rén xíng bì yǒu wǒ shī**From the Confucius Institutes at Lancaster University and in Bari: a calligraphy with the saying of Confucius “Among three people walking together, there is surely one who can be my teacher.” It stands for the three Confucius Institutes learning from each other and moving forward together. It was brought by Chao Yang, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Lancaster University, and presented on stage by Prof. Dr. Bo Wu.

Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer presents a painted beer stein to Prof. Dr. Bo Wu — **A beer stein from Ingolstadt**Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer presented Prof. Dr. Bo Wu with a beer stein painted with the Ingolstadt skyline by an artist from Ingolstadt.

08 · The evening · 7:30 pm

Rap, pop and a packed hall

深圳 shēnzhèn · Shenzhen

In the evening, things got loud in the Neue Aula. With SCOR 奥熙 and Munich Paramount, two acts took the stage who are connected to the Chinese language and Chinese music in very different ways.

Watch the full film on YouTube

20:00

SCOR 奥熙

The German rapper SCOR, whose real name is Tim Oelrich, has long had a large fan base in China. In conversation with Prof. Dr. Peter Augsdörfer, he talked about his unusual path in life and his passion for the Chinese language.

Then he rapped in German, English and Mandarin, with lots of humour and right up close to the audience. During “Scorleone” he simply left the stage and rapped in the middle of the crowd. Everyone practised the Chinese choruses together, and in a small contest two fans got to show their skills on stage.

Brain Pudding
Scorleone
Shenzhen Story

SCOR in a red shirt in the middle of the crowd

8:30 pm to 10 pm

Munich Paramount

Then Munich Paramount took over the stage. With Chinese and English pop classics and infectious rhythms, the band set the musical finale to a varied festive programme.

Hand in Hand
Riding a White Horse
A Love That Never Loses Touch
365 Days of Missing You
Tenderness
The First Day
Mountains and Seas
Dangerously
The Crescent Moon
Bell and Drum Tower
We Are the World

Singer of Munich Paramount in purple light

翻 fān · to leaf through

Browse the magazine

Ten years of encounters, reports and insights. 117 pages of speeches, stories and the chronicle from 2016 to 2026, shown here in the German edition. Click the page edges to turn the pages.

谢 xiè · to thank

Thank you!

The anniversary was an opportunity to thank everyone who has accompanied the institute since its founding. Our special thanks go to our partner universities THI and SCUT, AUDI AG, the City of Ingolstadt and all partners and supporters who make our work possible. We also thank all artists, contributors and guests who shaped this day and celebrated with us.

Ten years of the Audi Confucius Institute Ingolstadt stand for many personal encounters, new friendships and shared projects. We look forward to continuing this story.

Ten years. Two cultures. Countless encounters.

Audi Confucius Institute Ingolstadt奥迪英戈尔施塔特孔子学院

Guests of honour, institute directors and contributors together on stage — **All in one picture:** guests of honour, institute directors and contributors at the end of the afternoon.