For many students from Taiwan, a trip to the Chinese mainland is exhilarating
and unforgettable.
Yeh Tien-huei, a sophomore law student from Soochow University in Taipei, was
fortunate to win a place in a delegation of 220 Taiwan college and high school
students to visit the mainland.
Invited by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the delegation arrived in
Beijing on Thursday.
"We never expected Beijing to be so modern and beautiful, with wide streets
and a lot of skyscrapers," Yeh said excitedly,
"Beijing is a magnified version of Taipei."
The delegation, organized by the Taipei-based Ten Outstanding Young Persons'
Foundation, are visiting Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Kunshan and Shanghai in a
10-day trip.
During their stay in Beijing, the students climbed the Great Wall, met some
of the mainland's Olympic champions, visited universities and met ordinary
Beijing residents.
"Before we came, we were looking for the differences between the mainland and
Taiwan," Yeh said. "But now we're here, we've found that we are so much alike!"
Yeh said she planned to come to Beijing again in the future and live in the
city, as she was won over by the city's profound cultural heritage.
"Chinese culture is very beautiful and we all have a duty to carry it
forward," Yeh said.
When Yeh took history courses in university, she was touched by the history
of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
"We united to fight foreign aggressors and we have no reason to be hostile to
each other today," Yeh said.
Chen-Yen Ho, a third-year student from the Department of Electrical
Engineering, National Taiwan University, said he was amazed to see the
mainland's progress.
"Seeing is believing and my parents fully supported me coming here," Ho said.
"Such an exchange provides a precious chance to promote mutual understanding and
learn from each other."
Ho said he has made some good friends with mainland students.
Hung-Wen Chien, honorary head of the delegation, said exchanges between young
people are of profound importance to the future of the Chinese people.
"Blood is thicker than water," Chien said. "Young generations on both sides
of the Straits should join to create a better future for the Chinese people."
At the reception banquet in the famous Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant Friday
night, Hu Qili, chairman of the Foundation, expressed a warm welcome to the
students.
"The rapid development of the motherland brings boundless opportunity for
young people on both sides of the Straits," Hu said.
"We hope more of Taiwan's young people will come to the mainland to further
their studies or develop their careers."
Recently, there has been an increase in cross-Straits youth exchanges. In the
middle of last month, the Fourth Straits Youth Forum was held in Fuzhou.
Headed by Lin Yi-shih, vice- chairman of the KMT, a more-than-100-member
delegation from Taiwan joined the forum.
The forum was co-sponsored by All-China Youth Federation from the mainland
and China Youth Exchange Association from Taiwan.
(China Daily 07/10/2006 page3)