Activities give international students deeper understanding of China

International students said they gained a deeper understanding of China's history, culture and development from a series of social activities organized by the All-China Youth Federation.

From July to August, 31 universities in eight provinces organized a week of social activities called Real China Campus, including field trips to rural areas, communities, enterprises and industrial parks to help students learn more about the country.

More than 500 Chinese and foreign students from over 70 countries participated in the activities.

More than 100 students were invited to visit Beijing for three days from Sunday to share and summarize their summer camp experiences.

During their trip, they visited the Museum of the Communist Party of China and venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and had an exchange session with members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to learn more about the political system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

At a sharing session on Monday, seven student representatives from China, the United States, Japan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Thailand and Yemen shared their personal experiences.

Aleks Van, a US student studying automation control at Zhejiang University, said his one-week trip to Zunyi, Guizhou province, was rewarding. After visiting the old site of the Zunyi Conference, an important meeting in the CPC's history, and talking with local villagers, he said he learned more about the Party and really felt the happiness of the Chinese people.

"I had never been to the western part of China so it was a great time being able to see part of China that I hadn't known about," he said.

Van said he wants to visit more places and introduce the real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China to more people.

Mueataz Awadh Ali Mahyoub, a student from Yemen who is studying medicine at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, visited Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, as part of the activities.

He called Wuhan a "hero city", saying he had learned how the city recovered from being the area hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The most important factor in overcoming this epidemic is that the Chinese government has made saving people's lives its first priority, regardless of the economic losses," he said.

Moroccan student Hamza Hachmaoui, from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, said the trip to Beijing was "very inspiring".

The visit to the CPC museum and the CPPCC allowed him to learn more about the history of the Party and how China formed its special political advisory system.