WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States recently hosted the 2025 Spring Festival Gala for Chinese and American Youths, with over 500 young students from both countries and members of the American education community in attendance.
At the event, Chinese and U.S. youths jointly presented a series of wonderful cultural performances. The show kicked off with the song "Lights of China," followed by a captivating piano ensemble, graceful traditional dances, and a lively, spirited chorus that performed two songs to bring the evening to a close.
The youths from both countries also participated in activities such as making sugar paintings, making dumplings, practicing calligraphy, and wearing Hanfu -- a traditional Chinese garment, experiencing the unique charm of the Chinese New Year.
Caroline Faircloth, a member of the American education community who participated in the activities, told Xinhua that what impressed her the most was the "kuaiban" -- a traditional Chinese performance art that combines rhythmic clapping with storytelling. She found it challenging to make the bamboo clappers move skillfully in her hand and produce rhythmic sounds, but it was great fun.
Faircloth's main work involves strengthening international exchanges at schools in Washington, D.C. She said she was very pleased to see students from several Washington schools attending the event, where they learned a wide range of Chinese cultural knowledge that is very helpful for opening up their eyes and understanding the world.
"Over the past year, under the guidance of the two heads of state, the San Francisco vision has been gradually turned into reality," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said, noting that one of the highlights of China-U.S. relations last year was that President Xi Jinping's initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans for study or exchange programs yielded fruitful outcomes.
Nearly 15,000 American youths from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. visited China under the initiative, outperforming the annual target, Xie said.
"I encourage our young friends to view each other's development with a more open and inclusive mind, deepen exchanges and cooperation in a more innovative way, and jointly address new challenges like AI and climate change, so as to help find a right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era," Xie said.
The Chinese ambassador said that he would like to invite more young Americans to be part of the "50,000 in five years" initiative, "promote dialogue and cooperation, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and carry forward the goodwill between our two peoples."
