China News Service, San Francisco, March 16 (Reporter Liu Guanguan) On the 16th local time, 24 middle school students from Lincoln Middle School and Stillakum Middle School in Washington State, USA, set off from San Francisco, California, to visit China.
In November 2023, President Xi Jinping attended a welcome banquet jointly held by American friendship groups in San Francisco, USA.
When President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the welcome banquet, he announced that China is willing to invite 50,000 American teenagers to come to China for exchange and study in the next five years.
The 24 middle school students who set off to visit China on the 16th were part of the 50,000 people.
On the same day, Song Guoxuan, Acting Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Peng Lei, General Manager of Air China North America Headquarters, Richard Murry, Mayor of Stillakum, Washington, and others attended the farewell ceremony at San Francisco International Airport and delivered speeches.
On March 16, local time, middle school students from Washington State attended a farewell ceremony at San Francisco International Airport.
Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Guanguan
Song Guoxuan said that he hoped that after arriving in China, the students would actively participate in various activities with an open mind, experience Chinese culture personally, taste Chinese food, make Chinese friends, and see a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China.
After returning to the United States, I can share my experiences in China and encourage my classmates, friends, and family to have the opportunity to visit China.
I hope that through their trip to China, the students will forge deep friendship with the Chinese people and become envoys of Sino-US friendship.
On March 16, local time, middle school students from Washington State in the United States prepared to board a flight at San Francisco International Airport.
Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Guanguan
Grayson Riddle, a 17-year-old middle school student from Stillakum Middle School, told the China News Service reporter that he was grateful for the opportunity to go to China and was looking forward to every second of this trip. He was ready to be China's unique culture is shocking.
When asked what message he hopes to convey to his Chinese peers during the trip, Grayson replied: "I want to tell them that despite the huge cultural differences between the United States and China, we can still come to China, and students from both countries can still find ways to communicate. ways to truly build connections and thus promote connections around the world.” (End)