Recently, 24-year-old Japanese tourist Uchida Hiroto traveled to Yueyang. After reciting the full text of Notes on Yueyang Tower in about three minutes, he earned free admission to the Yueyang Tower Scenic Area. Earlier this February, he visited the Tengwang Pavilion Scenic Area in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and recited the full text of Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng in five minutes, also obtaining free entry.

On June 20, Uchida Hiroto said in an interview that he had spent a month preparing to recite Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng, earning a perfect score of 100. This time, he spent a week memorizing Notes on Yueyang Tower and scored 98.

"My next goal is to recite Ode to Hard Roads to Sichuan but I don't have a specific plan or timeline yet—it depends on how my recitation goes," Uchida Hiroto said. He is currently in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, for both sightseeing and filming content for his self-media accounts. He still intends to take on the challenge of reciting Ode to Hard Roads to Sichuan. 

On June 20, a staff member at the Yueyang Tower Scenic Area confirmed that a Japanese tourist indeed gained free admission by reciting Notes on Yueyang Tower on June 16. "He scored 98. It might not necessarily be a mistake in recitation but could be issues with Mandarin pronunciation or speaking pace. It's rare for foreign visitors to recite the full text—maybe only a few each year," the staff said.

Uchida Hiroto comes from Nagoya, Japan. During high school, he came across Chinese culture and gradually developed the idea of studying in China. "I am fond of Chinese rap songs and Chinese singers like Wang Yitai." After graduation from high school, he attended a Chinese language class in Japan and studied for a year, and in 2021, he enrolled in a university in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.  

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Guangming Online