A group of 80 students and teachers from the U.S. state of Washington wrapped up a four-day visit to southwest China's Guizhou Province on Wednesday, with the activity-packed trip helping deepen their understanding of Chinese culture and promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two sides.
During their visit to Taijiang County on Tuesday, the American students learned about a traditional reed-pipe wind instrument called the 'Lusheng', which features predominantly in the music of the Miao people and the wooden drum dance, a folk dance popular among the ethnic group. They also enjoyed a bite of the tasty Guizhou sour fish soup, local rice wine and experienced other diverse intangible cultural heritage from the area.
"It (Lusheng) is a very interesting instrument. I never knew about it until I came here and learned about it. And I really like it because it's pretty simple. It's like pretty easy to learn and I love the sound of it. It's really amazing," said Cryan McKee, a student from Tri-Cities High School.
"The most impressive for me, I would say that being able to gather here today and being able to experience [real culture] with the cooking, and I believe it was the sour soup that we learned to cook as well as joining in the drum dancing as well. That was something that was extremely special," said Rowan Hinds, a student from the Science and Math Institute in Tacoma.
Later on Tuesday evening, two basketball matches between local residents and the U.S. students gathered many tourists and neighboring villagers around the court to enjoy the fun international face-off amid a friendly atmosphere.
In addition, the young students also visited another picturesque village in the rural heart of Guizhou's Leishan County to experience the charm of local food and the ethnic Miao culture.
Organizers say the group are enjoying a comprehensive tour of China, helping to build bridges and friendships between the two peoples which they hope will have a lasting impact on these young participants.
"This time they would visit places, like Guizhou, Sichuan, Shandong, Beijing. The trip may allow them to plant a seed of Sino-US friendship from a young age and then gradually nurture them into strong pillars that will actively contribute to the robust and stable development of Sino-U.S. relation," said Shen Xin, vice president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
US students sample local ethnic culture in tour of southwest China's Guizhou
