BLOOMINGTON - Members of the public experienced a little piece of China on Sunday when the Bloomington-Normal Chinese School opened its doors for anyone interested in learning more about the language or culture.

The school at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shaw Hall is dedicated to teaching traditional Chinese as a second language to all children. At the open house, students and parents praised the school and expressed how much of an impact it has had on their lives.

"You can really learn Chinese for even people like me, because I'm Caucasian," Leah Edwards-Blinderman said about the school which she has been at for three years.

"It was really difficult when I first started out, because you know it's Chinese and its way different than English, but I have learned a lot and I really like it," she said.

"It's a mixture of work and play, which is really good," Barry Blinderman, a Bloomington resident and Leah's father, said. "They make sure they play enough games, but the games are very education and still are very fun."

The school stresses that it is able to teach Chinese to all children, regardless of cultural background, but Principal Flora Hsueh-Klassen said people are interested partly because of cultural reasons.

"It's getting in touch with their cultural origins because some of the parents are from Taiwan and their kids are born here, so they would like their kids to learn Chinese so that it is available to them," she said.

"There are also kids that are Caucasian and they are fascinated and want to learn it."

The open house featured a dance recital, songs, games, food and class presentations. Currently there are nine students, but Edwards-Blinderman said that they are always looking for more.

"It's really nice and it's homey, but we have this open house to find more people," we are always looking to recruit.