US students hope to open minds back home to real China

Chinese counterparts

Huo Yi volunteered to be the team leader of the program and spent a large amount of time with the US students while taking care of them during the tour. A doctoral candidate at Dong-A University in South Korea, Huo was in Beijing preparing his thesis defense when he learned about the program from a friend who was one of the visit organizers.

"Their behavior challenged some of my perceptions about American youth," Huo said.

While young US people are often stereotyped as being rebellious, Huo said he found the young visitors to be orderly and on time, and willing to follow all regulations.

A memorable experience was watching a soccer match with them at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, Huo said.

"Despite rarely watching soccer games in the US, they were extremely engaged and captivated by the live match. This made me deeply appreciate cultural exchange as an excellent way to foster mutual understanding," he said.

Huo said his involvement had allowed him to observe the diverse behavior of young people from different cultural backgrounds.

Some of the US students have deeper connections with China that went beyond an interest in learning the Chinese language. Kenneth Au's father emigrated from Hong Kong to the US in the 1980s, while Emily Schumacher was adopted by a US family in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, when she was three years old.

"Au showed traditional Chinese traits of humility and politeness because of his family background," Huo said. "On the other hand, Emily, affected by her upbringing, would straightforwardly express her views on perceived injustices."

Xie Tao, dean of the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at BFSU who gave a lecture about China-US relations to the US students, said he was impressed by their extremely positive feedback about their experiences in China. All of them said they would recommend to their friends and family to visit the country.

"I firmly believe exchanges between Chinese and American students will help reduce misunderstandings and stereotypes about China that are widespread among American people," Xie said.

"Face-to-face conversation and learning will undoubtedly make American students better appreciate the real China."