A group of students from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region embarked on an exchange trip to the Chinese mainland’s northwestern region on Saturday, saying they hope their friendships and shared experiences would help present a genuine and beautiful Xinjiang to the world.

The eight-day cultural and sports-themed exchange program, now in its second edition, began in Urumqi, the regional capital, bringing together 40 students from Guangdong province, the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and Xinjiang to explore Urumqi and the scenic city of Altay.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ke Tonglin of the Guangzhou Foreign Language School quoted My Altay, the celebrated book by Li Juan that inspired the popular television series To the Wonder, saying the book’s reflections on life and its portrayal of Xinjiang’s natural beauty have given her a deeper appreciation of the simple joys of life.

She performed an excerpt from the Cantonese opera, The Flower Princess, a cappella, saying she hopes to showcase her own culture while learning from the cultures of her Xinjiang peers.

Yuen Yu-ching, a Form Four student from Hong Kong’s South Tuen Mun Government Secondary School, said the trip is her first real experience of Xinjiang beyond books and the internet.

“Despite the long journey, our hearts remain close,” she said, adding that the motherland’s vastness fills her with pride, and that although Xinjiang and Hong Kong are far apart, both are inseparable parts of the country.

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Yuen plans to share her observations and feelings with her family and schoolmates after the trip to present a “lively, true, and vibrantly developing” Xinjiang.

Chu Chon-hong, a senior student from Macao’s Hou Kong Middle School, referred to his school’s patriotic history, saying it was the first school in Macao to raise the national flag after the founding of the People’s Republic of China despite pressure from the Portuguese colonial authorities. He drew a parallel with Xinjiang’s wartime efforts to defend national sovereignty.

Quoting a Tang Dynasty poem, A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near, Chu said the friendships formed during the tour would endure long after the journey.

Liu Enxi from Urumqi No 3 Middle School recalled her visit to Hong Kong and Macao last year during which she witnessed the flag-raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square and saw a handcrafted woolen carpet from Xinjiang that had been presented as a congratulatory gift for Macao’s return to the motherland in 1999.

The carpet, featuring the ethnic culture and artistic style of Xinjiang’s Kanas Scenic Area, symbolized national unity, she said.

Liu said she and her schoolmates are committed to helping friends from faraway places better understand Xinjiang.

Zhuo Hongyong, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China, welcomed the students on behalf of the organizers. He hoped the students would move beyond classroom learning to explore Xinjiang’s vast and vibrant landscape, experience the region as it is today, and immerse themselves in the vivid practice of building a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Officials from the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the liaison offices of the Central People’s Government in the two special administrative regions also attended the opening ceremony.

After arriving in Urumqi following an hours-long flight on Friday, the students took part in an ice-breaking session and were divided into mixed groups for the rest of the program. Before the trip ends on Aug 28, they will visit natural landscapes, museums, and tourist attractions in Urumqi and Altay, and take part in three soccer matches featuring student representatives.

The inaugural edition, held in August last year, saw 70 students from the Greater Bay Area and Xinjiang travel to Kashgar and the Kizilsu Kirgiz autonomous prefecture for five days.

Contact the writer at mollychen@chinadaily.com