Letter from China: Friendship between Chinese, American students blossoms in spring breeze

by Xinhua writer Huang Yuzhang

SHIJIAZHUANG, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Amid the sprouting shoots and blossoming branches of spring, I witnessed how friendship between teenage students from China and the United States bloomed in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

From Saturday to Monday, a 67-member delegation from high schools in the U.S. states of Iowa and California, at the invitation of Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School (SFLS), engaged in a study tour in Shijiazhuang, where they savored the Chinese culture and bonded with Chinese friends.

On Saturday morning, I met the American youths for the first time on the SFLS campus. Among all visitors, a tall student clad in red-colored Chinese-style clothes with dragon patterns instantly grabbed my attention.

Out of curiosity, I walked up to the eye-catching boy and greeted him. During our talk, I learned that his name is Gregory Scott. An 18-year-old student from Davis Senior High School in California, he has taken Chinese courses at school and is interested in Chinese culture, especially ancient Chinese poems.

When asked about his choice of attire for the journey, he grinned. "It is a gift from one of my Chinese friends online. I wore it in a Chinese poem recitation competition at my school and finally got awarded!"

He added that the poem he chose was "Yue Xia Du Zhuo," or "Drinking Alone Under the Moon" in English, a classical poem written by Li Bai, one of the greatest Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Li Bai expressed his loneliness in his time-honored writing, but Scott never felt lonely during his visit to China, since each American student like him was partnered with a Chinese student from SFLS for an enjoyable travel experience.

Pan Shuaiyu, an SFLS student who accompanied Scott during the study tour, told me they have become good friends. "We come from different cultural backgrounds, but we share a lot of similarities," said Pan.

Pairs like Scott and Pan took part in a series of activities, from playing ping pong and making dumplings to planting trees and learning Chinese calligraphy and ink painting.

"I do calligraphy at home in English, and it is fun for me to do it with Chinese characters," Roan Milligan, 18, shared his feelings about Chinese calligraphy. "I think the technique with a brush is more difficult than that with a pen," he added.

According to Milligan, this was his first trip to China, but he was no stranger to this country. As an Iowan student, he has developed an intimate feeling toward China, resulting from friendly exchanges between Hebei and Iowa over the past four decades, since the two places signed their sister-state relationship in 1983.

For Milligan, despite intricate international situations, the study tour is a testament to the vitality of people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S. "It is a reminder that we can make each other stronger through interaction, rather than fall into pointless tensions," he said.

Milligan's idea resonated with Lilian Carter, a 16-year-old student from California who described her trip to China as "an amazing experience." Growing up in the digital age, the girl still values the importance of face-to-face communication between people from different countries.

"I feel like stuff coming through social media isn't as true as it seems, as things can get lost and stories get twisted. I've been able to push aside what I've heard before and learn from my own experience here," she said.

Fortunately, more students like Carter will enjoy the chance to understand China in person as part of a China-initiated program unveiled in November 2023, which plans to invite 50,000 American youths to China within five years for cultural exchanges and study opportunities.

Amelia May, a high school teacher in California, spoke highly of China's efforts to strengthen mutual understanding and believed that the future of the relations between the two countries lies in the youth. "The youth definitely can help foster relationships and bring greater unity."

After talking with May, I strolled into a garden where students, including Scott, were playing games together. At this time, Scott did not stand out for his garment, as everyone was dressed in beautiful Chinese-style clothes prepared by SFLS. At the sight of their beaming faces bathed in the afternoon sunshine, I thought May was 100 percent right. Enditem