Groups of students from Lincoln High School in the United States visited China this year, celebrating friendship and expressing hope for the enduring bonds between the two nations.
These visits come in the wake of President Xi Jinping's announcement during his visit to the U.S. last November, where he expressed China's willingness to invite 50,000 American youth to China over the next five years.
Excitement filled the air as students engaged in various cultural activities, including climbing the Great Wall, practicing Tai Chi, and enjoying traditional hot pot.
"To visit a group of people whose history runs so deep and is so connected with them in their everyday life is very amazing to see. In the sense that I've never been able to experience that," said Montserrat Romero-Rocha, one of the group of students.
During their stay, the students visited several Chinese schools, where they communicated with local students, exchanged gifts, and participated in games.
"Everybody here is just so great, we talk about like classes, courses that we're taking, as well as like shared interests. I find those like shared similarities, things that we both enjoy, and like music or literature or schoolwork or like things that we want to major in," said Romero-Rocha.
At Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Language School in south China's Guangdong Province, high school student Pan Xingyu welcomed the American guests through music, performing the widely recognized piece "Auld Lang Syne" on a traditional Chinese instrument, the ruan.
"I feel that the American students are very warm and friendly. Even though it's our first meeting, it feels like we've known each other for a long time. I want to share Chinese traditional culture with them, so I brought my traditional musical instrument, the ruan. Today, I chose to perform 'Auld Lang Syne', a song familiar to my American friends. I chose this piece to express my hope that the friendship between Chinese and American students will last forever," Pan said.
The power of music transcends borders, serving as a universal language that breaks barriers and celebrates friendship. Teachers and student from Lincoln High School also prepared a Chinese song to express their value of the friendship.
"This is my fourth time coming to China with students from Lincoln. I was pleased to be able to share the song with a new group of kids. But when I meet Chinese people, they're like, oh, I learned that song! I believe that the connection is very real, kind of a touchstone for friendship," said music teacher Lynn Eisenhower.
The participating students said that this educational journey has been invaluable and memorable, reinforcing the notion of enduring Sino-American friendship. Reflecting on the precious experience, Romero-Rocha conveyed her heartfelt gratitude to President Xi for his invitation.
"If I had the opportunity to say anything to President Xi, I would say thank you for coming to Lincoln High School and thank you for continuing this connection and continuing to show your support and giving these opportunities to people who would have never had these opportunities without you. From the bottom of my heart, I am really, eternally grateful for all that you've been doing. We'll continue that friendship," she said.
American youth celebrate friendship during tour of China
