At the entrance is the Chinese inscription "Explore the truth, pursue the light"; there is a bibliography list printed with the national emblem of China on the table; all kinds of books fill the rows of bookshelves... This is a room located in Seoul National University, South Korea. Library and reference room.

  On July 4, 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was on a state visit to South Korea, came to Seoul National University and delivered an important speech entitled "Together Create a Future of China-South Korea Cooperation and Contribute to the Revitalization and Prosperity of Asia".

In his speech, he announced a "surprise" for the teachers and students of Seoul National University: "I brought 10,000 books and video materials introducing the situation in China, and donated them to your school for teaching and academic research."

  One year later, the "Xi Jinping Donated Library and Reference Room" was officially opened.

This is the only library and reference room at Seoul National University named after a foreign leader, and it is vividly called "Xi Jinping's Study" by the South Korean media.

The internal environment of the "Xi Jinping Donated Library and Reference Room".

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)

  Here, you can read historical classics such as "Historical Records" and "Zizhi Tongjian" to express your thoughts about the past, and you can also watch the documentary "A Bite of China" and become an "online gourmet". Video data tour the great rivers and mountains of China...Starting from the books donated by Xi Jinping, the Seoul National University Central Library also extensively collects books and materials related to China, and carries out academic information exchanges and cooperation with Tsinghua University, Peking University and other Chinese university libraries , Expanding "Xi Jinping's Study" into an important platform for cultural exchanges between China and South Korea.

  Over the past 7 years since the museum was opened, groups of young Koreans have realized through the "Xi Jinping Study" that China is not a "terrible bull devil", but a neighboring country that maintains peace, promotes cooperation, and learns with an open mind. It is a credible and lovely country , a respectable developing country.

  Cultural exchanges are an effective way to eliminate barriers and misunderstandings and promote people-to-people bonds.

In his speech at Seoul National University, Xi Jinping also announced that China invited 100 university students from the university to participate in the "Chinese Bridge" summer camp for university students in China in 2015.

On July 4, 2014, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech entitled "Creating a Future of China-ROK Cooperation and Contributing to the Revitalization and Prosperity of Asia" at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lan Hongguang

  It was at the "Chinese Bridge" event in 2015 that Chinese audiences met a Korean "cute girl" named Shin So-yun.

She can sing in Chinese, play allegro, and act in dramas. With her fluent Beijing movies, she won the championship in the Korean division of the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students.

Shen Suyun said: "Chinese language and China are like a breeze, gently lifting me up and allowing me to fly higher and farther."

  China and South Korea have a close relationship of people and culture, and they have unique advantages in carrying out people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

In recent years, many Korean performing arts stars have come to China to develop through the "Korean Wave"; activities such as "Chinese Drama Reading Performance" and "Silk Road Culture Month" have been loved by Korean youths; "My Love from the Star", "Descendants of the Sun" " Please answer 1988" and a large number of Korean dramas are popular in China. When Peng Liyuan accompanied Xi Jinping on a visit to South Korea in 2014, she joked that Xi Jinping's photo when he was young looked like "Professor Du". There are tens of millions of people, each other's largest source of foreign students.

  "Young people are the most energetic and full of dreams, and they are also the easiest to communicate and understand each other." During his visit to South Korea in 2014, Xi Jinping expressed his earnest hope to the youth of the two countries to learn from each other and enhance friendship.

The internal environment of the "Xi Jinping Donated Library and Reference Room".

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)

  "I was born in 1992 when China and South Korea established diplomatic relations." South Korean youth Kim Chae-sung introduced himself this way, "I have liked watching Stephen Chow movies since I was a child, like 'Oh! Monkey Sai Lei', and since then I have started learning Chinese." Also born in 1992, there are also Chinese students Hou Yiwei and Tang Yiying who are studying for a doctorate at Seoul National University. Korean dramas and KPOP (Korean pop music) have aroused their strong interest in Korean culture.

  Now, Kim Chae-sung is a responsible researcher at the China Studies Center of Dongseo University, Tang Yiying is busy teaching Korean friends Chinese in her spare time, and Hou Yiwei is actively participating in various activities of the Chinese Scholars Association in Korea. There are many "post-90s" and "post-00s" who promote mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries.

The picture shows the unveiling ceremony of the "Chinese Bridge" Club Seoul Station in August 2022.

(Source: Chinese Embassy in South Korea)

  In the past three years, the epidemic has not blocked the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and South Korea.

In 2020, the China Cultural Center in Seoul hosted more than 40 activities online and offline, and all walks of life in South Korea actively participated; in January 2021, China and South Korea signed a memorandum, agreeing to jointly translate and publish 50 classics of the two countries in the next five years; in 2022 It is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, and it is also the year of cultural exchanges between China and South Korea; in August 2022, the Seoul Station of the "Chinese Bridge" club will be unveiled, providing opportunities for more Korean youths to learn Chinese.

  Xi Jinping once used the metaphor of Tai Chi to explain the way of exchanges between China and South Korea: "If political, economic and security cooperation is the rigid force to promote the development of state relations, then cultural exchanges are the soft force for people to strengthen their feelings and connect their hearts. Only by using The integration of the two forces can better promote countries to treat each other with sincerity and to be compatible with each other."

  Text/Qing Yuan

  Dubbing/Jing Xuan

  Audio Editing / Ann Xian

  Editing/Haisheng

  Sources/People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, etc.