中文
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States on Saturday hosted a China-U.S. Youth Spring Festival Gala, bringing together more than 500 young people to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.
During the event, U.S. teachers and students who had previously visited China for exchange and study shared their experiences and stories from their travels in the country.
Annabelle Baker, a student at Orem High School in Utah, recalled her trip to China with her family last June, including a high-speed train journey from Beijing to Zhengzhou. "It was so cool. I've never seen anything like it," she said.
Annabelle told Xinhua that what impressed her most during her trip to China was the people. "I loved having conversations with the locals, and everyone was so kind and forgiving. I tried to speak to them in Chinese as much as possible. And even though my Chinese isn't perfect, they were really fun to talk to and really forgiving with my Chinese," she said.
At the event, young people from both countries explored a temple fair together, admired Suzhou embroidery, made glutinous rice balls (Tang Yuan) and sugar paintings, tried on Hanfu -- traditional Chinese clothing -- and performed together.
"Under our leaders' guidance, China-U.S. youth exchanges have gone from strength to strength, steadily injecting fresh vigor into bilateral relations," Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the United States, said in a speech.
Xie noted that over the past year, Chinese and U.S. youths have learned from each other, and moved forward hand in hand, reached out to each other, strived to be envoys of goodwill and collaborated on innovation, collectively "driving the change of our times."
"We look forward to removing obstacles to interactions with resolve," Xie said. "We call on the U.S. side to earnestly implement our Presidents' consensus, view and handle China-U.S. relations with a long-term perspective, build bridges instead of barriers, and encourage, rather than hinder, our youths' interactions, learning and research."
Xie noted that China looks forward to boosting exchanges with courage and supports visionary Americans in speaking up and acting with a sense of responsibility for the future, overcoming the chilling effect and disruptions to infuse more hope and vitality into bilateral relations.
"We warmly welcome more young Americans to take part in the '50,000 in five years' initiative -- to visit China for exchanges, tours and further studies, see China for yourselves, and make every moment of your youth count," Xie said.
Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC), said in his remarks that talent exchanges are crucial to companies in both China and the United States, and professionals with cross-cultural working capabilities are valuable resources for both countries.
"So the USCBC and the American business community, we are committed to working hand in hand with the Chinese government and other partners across the public and private sectors to create more opportunities for youth and students to learn, connect and grow," said Stein.
