By Zhu Jingning Fang Jingyi
Jin Yingying
“The sky is crying blue as I wait for you…” This melody recently resonated through the campus of Hangzhou No. 14 High School. A delegation of American students from the other side of the ocean learned to play the traditional Chinese musical instrument, the cucurbit flute, for the first time. Accompanied by Chinese students’ singing, a well-known song Blue and White Porcelain was interpreted in a refreshing style.
Tifaga Benjamin, a high school student from Tacoma in the US state of Washington, started his first visit to China this month, along with about 190 students and teachers from more than ten schools in seven US states.
The trip of “Shared Journey of Friendship” US Youth Exchange Delegation, which took them to Hebei, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Shanghai, over the course of about two weeks, is part of an initiative to invite 50,000 young people from the United States to visit China over these five years.
Hangzhou, as the penultimate stop, welcomed the delegation with unique cultural and sports exchanges at four local schools and a polytechnic.
Perceive, experience, and understand better
Driven by their curiosity about the Chinese language and culture, students from Niles North High School stepped into Zhejiang Hangzhou High School. There, they visited the renowned Astronomy Club, learned Peking opera singing during a music class, experienced woodblock printing in art class, and made lacquer fans as well.
In the music class, the Niles North students unexpectedly found themselves singing Peking opera. Two boys volunteered to wear Peking opera wig sets and perform a segment from the classic opera Selling Water under the guidance of the teacher. Their exaggerated performances during “combing the oiled hair” “applying face powder” and “wearing lip rouge” evoked laughter and applause. One of the performers, Terrence, particularly loved his new gift, the Peking opera wig set, and wore it throughout the class.
Kenya, who has been studying Chinese for three years in high school, introduced herself in Chinese, saying, “Hello, my name is Kenya, I am from Niles North High School, and I have a younger sister…” When talking about her connection with the Chinese language, Kenya smiled and said she started on a friend’s recommendation and has enjoyed it immensely. Currently, over 180 students at Niles North High School are enrolled in Chinese courses. During this exchange trip, they continuously improved their Chinese speaking skills with their Chinese counterparts.
At Hangzhou No.14 High School, students and teachers from Lincoln High School learned how to play the cucurbit flute, experienced traditional Chinese paper cutting, and participated in Tai Chi and table tennis.
“It’s very relaxing and calming to hear the Chinese instruments and makes me definitely feel the Chinese culture in a beautiful way,” said Tifaga Benjamin, who was vlogging with his classmates during the trip.
Lynn Eisenhauer, Lincoln High School music teacher, who taught students to sing the Chinese song In the Field of Hope during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Lincoln High School in Tacoma in 2015, said: “I think music is one of the things that connects people no matter where they are in the world. Our songs and the words might be different, but the act of singing together or making music together absolutely brings us together.”
Building more bridges between youths
Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic provided a different experience for students and teachers from Muscatine School, Mount Tahoma High School, Steilacoom High School, Friends Select School, Phillips Academy Andover, Laramie High School, and Archbishop Riordan High School. They were captivated by the fragrant incense and tea ceremony classes, where they crafted delicate sachets and experienced the ancient Song Dynasty tea practices. In the afternoon, at Hangzhou Normal University Affiliated High School, the group participated in Chinese knotting and traditional fan painting workshops.
Krista Regennitter, a staff member at Muscatine High School and a project officer at the local non-profit Stanley Center for Peace and Security, spoke about the trip’s purpose: “I hope that students from both countries can understand each other and realize that we are not so different. We all share hopes and dreams for a future of peace and security.”
Avery Rosen from Friends Select School is a sports enthusiast who found like-minded friends in every city he visited in China. “Talking about sports with many Chinese boys, we just couldn’t stop chatting. Coming to China, on the other side of the world, I found common ground with my peers, which made me feel very comfortable.”
Students and teachers from Silas High School, Foss High School, Stadium High School, and Tacoma Public Schools visited Zhejiang Fuyang High School, where they watched a lion dance and took a field trip to Longmen Ancient Town.
“We love the city, the hospitality, and we would love to make connections and engagement,” said Ron Chow, the Co-chair of the US-China Youth Student Exchange Association after leading the visit to Hangzhou one more time, with the hope that the youths of both countries will grow up into better leaders of the world.
Cross-national friendship extending from generations
Fifty-two years ago, US President Richard Nixon came to China with a rare tree species, the North American sequoia saplings, a specialty of the United States. He planted the trees in the Botanical Garden beside Hangzhou’s West Lake for the friendship between the two nations. Today, this sequoia tree has taken root and sprouted in Hangzhou, witnessing the friendship for generations.
In recent years, Hangzhou has been promoting the internationalization of the city and further enhanced exchanges and cooperation with American cities in the fields of economy and trade, culture, education, and so on.
Taking Hangzhou’s sister city Boston as an example, although tens of thousands of miles away across the ocean, it has been an “old friend” of 41 years. The two cities have maintained friendly exchanges with fruitful results.
In February this year, Hangzhou held a special promotion conference of the third Global Digital Trade Expo in Boston to invite well-known enterprises and business associations to attend the exhibition.
May 1 marks the Boston-Hangzhou Day. Young representatives from Hangzhou and Boston were invited to share their experiences of art in their respective cities at the Boston Urban Forum launched on the same day.
Hangzhoufeel also launched “A Tale of Two Cities” interview series, dialogues with people from Hangzhou and Boston. Our latest episodes were joined by Becca Pizzi, Boston elite runner and the two-time winner of the women’s race in the World Marathon Challenge, and Kara Elliott-Ortega, the Chief of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston.