Thousand-Strong Tour Group of HK to Visit Chinese MainlandHong Kong held a ceremony Wednesday for the "2000 Millenium Chinese History and Culture Educational Tours."The estimated 1,000 members of the tours, organized by the Chinese History & Culture Educational Foundation for Youth, will depart for Beijing on June 26 and then visit 22 provinces, cities and autonomous regions of China in a number of groups. They will be back in Hong Kong on July 1. "This event is conducive to promoting the Hong Kong youth's knowledge of the homeland and the exchange with their contemporaries of the Chinese mainland," Annie S. C. Wu, chairman of the foundation, said at the ceremony. Lei Zi Kuen, a student of the Hong Kong University, expressed his joy about participation in the activity. "Seeing is believing. This tour enables us to deepen our understanding of our motherland's history and culture by personal experience," she said. In comparison with the previous two years, this year's tours include not only students but also people from government departments, women's groups and other sectors. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Tung Chee Hwa was present at the ceremony and hoped that the members of the tours not only care about the development of Hong Kong but also care about the future of the motherland and the Chinese nation. This is the third year for the organization, founded in 1998, to organize such tours. Wang Fengchao, deputy director of the Central Government Liaison Office in the HKSAR, and Tang Guoqiang, deputy commissioner of China's Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR, were also present at the ceremony. |
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