With shirts and banners in green color, twenty Vietnamese and Chinese students started here on Monday a cross-border tour by bicycle passing five localities in the two countries, calling for more efforts to protect the environment.

The 500-km riding tour will pass four northern localities of Vietnam including Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Lang Son and Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The ten-day tour begins in Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi and finishes in Guangxi's capital of Nanning.

"I decided to participate in this event to raise people's awareness of environment protection,"Chen Wenxiao, a student studying Vietnamese language at the Hanoi University, said on Monday, adding "I expect a chance to make friends with more Vietnamese students from other universities and learn more about their country's culture and history".

Agreeing with Chen, Nguyen Trong Bach, leader of the Vietnamese team participating in the tour said that through the event, Vietnamese youth wants to raise their voice together with Chinese young people for more activities to save our natural environment.

"The VietnamChina Youth Friendship Bicycle Tour," jointly organized by the China Radio International and Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, was the first of this kind to be held.

The activity is of great importance to celebrate the 60th anniversary of VietnamChina diplomatic relations, said Nguyen Hoa Binh, Director of the Waste Management and Environment Improvement Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at the launching ceremony of the tour in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday.

"I appreciate the efforts of twenty Vietnamese and Chinese students to exercise and practice for the coming 500-km-long ride in nearly half a month," said Binh.

To prepare for the tour, students have had four training courses to acquire skills to deal with possible difficulties and challenges arising during the tour, according to the organizer.

They also divide the team into different groups to carry necessities such as water and medicine, and practice singing and dancing and prepare games to perform and play during leisure hours when traveling through the places.

All team members expressed their eagerness to start the tour and believed they are strong enough to complete the trip.

During the tour, participants will have chances to visit landscapes, tourist and historical places of the two countries, and meet with local people.

Carrying banners with slogans such as "let's protect the air," or "let's protect the cultural heritages," the bicycle-riding team is expected to send a strong message, urging the community to involve in activities to protect the environment.

Moreover, the activity is believed to promote exchanges between young people of the two countries and enhance the understanding of the two peoples.

"I believed the program would not only help strengthen youth exchange, promote understanding between peoples of the two countries, but also raise awareness of environment protection among Chinese and Vietnamese young people," said Liu Dongsheng, Chinese Cultural Counselor to Vietnam in?Hanoi, Vietnam?on Monday.

The enhancement of understanding among the youth of the two countries is significant, helping consolidate and develop the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said.