A?delegation of 124 Japanese college students, high school
teachers and students started a cultural discovery tour in China in
Beijing on Thursday.
The delegation, organized by the Confucius Institute of the
Hokuriku University of Japan, will visit eight Chinese cities on
various subjects ranging from the economy, culture, education to
traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese cuisine.
Chen Jinyu, vice-chairman of the executive board of the
Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters, said the visit of
Japanese students and teachers to China would promote mutual
understanding of the two peoples, and seed friendship in the young
minds.
Hokuriku University began organizing the exchange program in
1994; by 2006, more than 500 Japanese teachers and students
attended the program and visited nearly 30 Chinese cities.
The university's Confucius Institute, launched in 2006, has
offered its students more selective courses about China and helped
local primary and middle schools to set up Chinese courses.
Chen believed that more and more Japanese universities and
schools would participate in the exchange programs.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2007)
