Closing ceremony of Students’ visit to Hungary held in Beijing (2)

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Closing ceremony of Students’ visit to Hungary held in Beijing (2)

(People's Daily Online) 16:28, August 09, 2013

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Students take photos before the meeting.(People's Online/Gao Yinan)

On Wednesday, students from Ya’an earthquake disaster area came back from exchange in Hungary. In the afternoon, the closing ceremony for the activity was held in Beijing. Deputy Secretary General of China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD), Ji Ping, Ya’an’s educational bureau director, Jiang Jianping and student representatives gave concluding speeches.

CFPD, founded in January 2011, is committed to carrying out international communication, philanthropy and research of think tanks overseas. Ji Ping said it’s the first time for CFPD to organize the exchange between China and a foreign country. He said, “This event is successful beyond expectations.”

“I still clearly remembered children’s depressed countenance at our departure, but now, when I see smiles on their faces, I know we made it,” Jiang Jianping, Ya’an’s educational bureau director, said happily. He believed the exchange to Hungary would definitely leave a deep impression to these students who had never left Ya’an.

“I enjoyed the 15 days in Hungary. It seems that all the misery and suffering has been swept. Happiness has come back to us again,” Ma Wanying, a student from Ya’an secondary school told People’s Daily Online. “I became special because of the earthquake. I did not want to recall and talk when being asked about the earthquake. However, I think I can face up to it now.”

Qi Wei, the senior program manager of CFPD described the exchange in details. During the two weeks, students went swimming in Lake Balaton, visited Confucius Institute in University of Szegedi and City Hall in Budapest. They experienced the traditional Hungarian culture and promoted the communication between juniors from China and Hungary.

In Budapest, Xiao Qian, China’s ambassador in Hungary, welcomed the students cordially. He encouraged them to apply what they see and learn in further study to make contribution to hometown and become messengers of Chinese-American friendship.

On April 20, 2013, a 7-magnitude earthquake hit Ya’an, southwest China’s Sichuan. On April 23, 2013, during the fourth China-Europe High-level Political Parties Forum in Suzhou, Mr. István Ujhelyi, vice chairman of Hungary’s congress, President of Confucius Institute in University of Szegedi declared that 50 students from Ya’an would be invited to Hungary for psychotherapy on behalf of University of Szegedi.

Among the 50 students, 20 came from Lushan County, 10 came from Baoxing County, 10 came from Tianquan County and 10 came from Yucheng district. The youngest of them is only 12 years old, while the oldest is 17 years old. These excellent and versatile students performed Chinese traditional dance and musical instruments during the two weeks’ stay to express their gratitude to Hungary.

It’s reported that in August 2013, 50 students from Wenchuan earthquake disaster area went to Hungary too. Hungary is among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China. Chinese and Hungarian people have a traditional friendship. This event, as a sign of close cooperation between two nations in 2013, promotes friendly communication among the two peoples, especially among juniors.