US teens arrive for school exchange
(Zeng Min)
05/30/2001
A group of US highschoolers have arrived for a rare school exchange visit to China as part of programme both Washington and the Chinese central government have endorsed as a way to foster strong bonds between future generations in both countries.The students, who come from Phoenix Central High School in the state of Arizona, are taking part in a pilot exchange programme funded by the US Government to lay foundations for long-term friendship between people in China and the US. The programme was the brainchild of Chinese President Jiang Zemin and former US President Bill Clinton, who came up with the idea during the US leader's landmark China trip in 1998. The tour follows on the heels of a visit by 11 Chinese students to Phoenix Central late last month. Over the next few years, the programme will be extended to include 25 schools in each country. The American group, made up of two girls and seven boys, arrived in Beijing on Monday. Today they will fly to Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, where they will spend three weeks studying at Shude Middle School. They will live with Chinese families during their stay. The students plan to work together with their Chinese peers on three specific subjects-neighbourhood, volunteer work, government work and environmental problems. The Phoenix Central students are coming to China with two teachers as advisers. Phoenix Central and Shude enjoy a sister-school relationship. "More interaction and collaboration will help teenagers better understand each other and learn how to deal with differences, which will have a big impact on their adult lives," said Tsai Lunyi, Chinese co-ordinator of the International Education and Resource Network, which operates the exchange. Ashley Benson, a girl of the visiting Phoenix Central group, said she was thrilled about what she had seen so far in China and was anxious to trade views with her Chinese peers on life, careers and other subjects of more global concern. "Though I can access China via the Internet and other media, I was still shocked by my first real look at the country, by the way people commute, by the structure of the buildings, by the language and the culture," Benson said.
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