33 Hong Kong students on exchange trip to Tibet
On June 21st, the 33 students and employees of the Hong Kong Youth Delegation reached Lhasa by train. The group included students from Hong Kong Baptist University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, and the University of Hong Kong. The delegation will spend six days in Tibet for exchange activities. This is the return visit after the Tibet Youth Delegation visited Hong Kong in May.
"It’s beautiful. The air is so clean. Tibet is more modern than I imagined." Said Chen Yiwen on June 21st. A freshman from Hong Kong Baptist University, she’s in Tibet with the Hong Kong Youth Delegation.
Huang Jingxin, the head of the delegation, said that ever since the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened to traffic in 2006, the Hong Kong Youth Delegation would always fly to Beijing first, transfer to Xining the capital city of NW China's Qinghai Province, and then reach Lhasa by train. “The students are really excited. They’ve been looking forward to seeing Tibet. Taking the train helps them gradually adjust to the high altitude of the plateau.”
The youth delegation visiting program is jointly hosted by the Youth League Committee and Student Union of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Hong Kong Playground Association. Ever since the joint-visits began in 2003, excellent students were chosen every year to for exchange visit. As of now, there have been 14 successful visits, with over 660 students benefitting from the experience.
The visit to Tibet by the Hong Kong Youth Delegation will include tours of the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Yamdrok Lake, as well as face-to-face exchanges with Tibetan college students and high school students. The Hong Kong youth will also visit ordinary Tibetan families during their trip.
"The interaction between the youth of these two places is becoming a regular thing for Tibet and Hong Kong.” Tenzin, student manager of the Youth League Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region, said these visits will boost the Hongkong students’ understanding of Tibet, help them experience the unique Tibetan culture up-close, see the rapid development of the Tibetan economy, and appreciate the harmony and progress among all ethnicities in China.