Travel between the United States and China is an important bridge for cultural understanding and friendship, said Chinese officials, artists and community members in the San Francisco Bay Area at an event celebrating the power of people-to-people exchanges.

The gathering, under the theme "Bridging Cultures Across the Sky", was hosted on Tuesday by China Southern Airlines at San Francisco International Airport's Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum.

The event featured a violin concert and discussions about China's new 240-hour visa-free transit policy. Guests shared the view that direct flights and easier travel policies are facilitating deeper connections between the two nations.

Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin expressed desire to see increased travels between the two nations, citing the recent meeting between US and Chinese presidents in Busan, the Republic of Korea.

"Our two presidents have had a good meeting in Busan not so long ago, and the message from the meeting is for China and United States to be partners and friends, because it will make a better future for all mankind. And one way to bring that about is to have more visits of each other," Zhang said.

He also noted the progress on President Xi Jinping's invitation, given when he was in San Francisco for the APEC meeting in 2023, for 50,000 American students to visit China over five years.

"So far, I think nearly 40,000 students have already traveled to China. And the feedback I get from students, their teachers, their parents, is that they find the trips to be truly eye-opening and extremely enjoyable," Zhang said.

"Travel, as Mark Twain once said, is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. We hope that we will work together to increase the number of direct flights to facilitate travel and provide more opportunities for people, especially kids, of the two sides, to know each other," he added.

Among the event's guests was George Retelas, a Bay Area filmmaker whose grandfather participated in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Retelas recently traveled to Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, to visit the Doolittle Raid Memorial Hall?and meet descendants of Chinese families who rescued American aviators during the war.

"My grandfather helped with the mission of the Doolittle Raid, which flew to attack Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and those aviators landed and bailed out over China, and the villagers there rescued them. So what drew me there was the history, and to try and meet some of the families that helped rescue those Americans, and I was able to meet some of those descendants and thank them on behalf of the United States," Retelas told China Daily.

Retelas plans to return in the coming weeks to pitch a new documentary on the US-China camaraderie during World War II.

"I went to Quzhou for the very first time this past April, and it was my first time going to China. What drew me was the place, the mystery of China. But now I'm going back in a couple weeks, and what brings me back is the people. So I encourage people to travel to China, not just for the place, but once they go there, they'll return to visit the people," he said.

Zhang cited Retelas' upcoming trip as an example of successful cultural bridging.

"It's important that we take the step by traveling to each other's country to see what the country is like, what the people are doing, with our own eyes," Zhang said.

"China has been rolling out many measures to facilitate such exchanges. For instance, now people traveling to China from the United States are eligible for 240-hour visa-free transit," he added.

Jiawei Wang, general manager of China Southern Airlines' San Francisco Office, noted that the airline operates 19 flights per week serving six major cities in North America. "For us, these flights are not only transportation, but they also connect families and support the business and help the world stay close," Wang said.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com