Participants of the SCO junior journalist summer camp gather in Yichun, Heilongjiang province on July 21. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Two students and a teacher from Tagore International School in New Delhi, were among the attendees at a 12-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summer journalism camp in China last month, aimed at widening the channels of friendly exchanges among the SCO member states.

The Shanghai Cooperation Junior Journalists International Summer Camp was organized by the SCO Committee on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, the Heilongjiang provincial government, and the China News.com website. 

Until the pandemic broke out, students and teachers from both schools used to visit each other and stay with host families in their homes for seven to fifteen days to complete the learning process

Its goal was fostering mutual understanding and friendship among youngsters and creating a better future among the SCO member states, according to the invitation letter sent to participants.

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"Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations," the invitation letter said.

The nine members of the SCO are China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Two students, accompanied by a team leader, from each of the SCO member states, attended the 12-day summer camp, which took place in Beijing, Harbin, and Yichun in Heilongjiang province from July 13.

The camp provided students with a wide range of activities and a unique opportunity to experience Chinese culture, music, calligraphy, ecology, winter sports, and the diverse flavors of Chinese cuisine. 

On July 14, the camp visited China News Network where the students were briefed about the bonds of China with various countries. They were also taught how to hold interviews and took a tour of the studio.

The camp participants were later taken to the Communication University of China and met several international students before the junior journalists interviewed them.

On 15 July, the junior journalists visited the Huawei Beijing Research Institute to start a "scientific and technological journey".

At the Huawei Convention and Exhibition Center, the junior journalists learned about the company’s research and development achievements along with China's scientific and technological strengths.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Sonia Bhatia, team leader from Tagore International School (TIS). They were deeply attracted when they watched a video of Huawei's intelligent manufacturing factory on the display screen.

Huawei products are very popular in India so it was a rare honor and a unique opportunity to visit Huawei's showroom, said Tishya Chandok and Snehpreet Kaur, 10th grade students at TIS. 

Huawei's technology is excellent and they are fortunate to witness such advanced technology, said the students while sharing their experience with their classmates.  

During the trip, the junior journalists visited the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau to learn about the preparations for the China-SCO ice and snow sports demonstration zone announced last year. 

The junior journalists saw professional ice and snow sports athletes in training, sports-themed sculptures, and a comprehensive record of the development of sports in Heilongjiang province.

The bullet train from Beijing to Harbin was another memorable experience. The 1,100-kilometer journey took roughly five hours but the seats were very comfortable and the food served on board was very delicious, said Tishya and Snehpreet.

The camp visited many important landmarks, such as the Forbidden City as well as the Beijing National Stadium and the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, which hosted the Beijing 2008 and Beijing 2022 Olympics. In Heilongjiang province, the students gained knowledge about wildlife at Xinqing National Wetland Park and they saw countryside leisure folk customs at Jiayin Riverside Park.  

The tour offered a great opportunity for the junior journalists to experience Chinese culture and fostered diversity in learning about different cultures, languages, and traditions, Chandok and Kaur said.

“I believe that the summer camp will help to break stereotypes, build understanding, and help in fostering mutual respect between countries. This exchange has resulted in forging new friendships and bonds which will develop into professional connections and collaborations in the future too,” Bhatia said.

TIS teachers and the rest of the school’s students were very honored and proud to be the only Indian school invited by the Chinese Embassy in India, said Madhulika Sen, former principal and senior academic advisor at TIS.

In 2008, a memorandum of understanding was signed between TIS and Shanghai Jinyuan Senior High School to exchange learning and resources between the two schools. Since then, around 20 to 30 students from TIS are being taught tai chi and Chinese calligraphy by Jinyuan teachers, while students from Jinyuan are learning Kathak dancing and yoga from TIS teachers.

Until the pandemic broke out, students and teachers from both schools used to visit each other and stay with host families in their homes for seven to fifteen days to complete the learning process.

Since March 2020, learning exchange programs have been conducted virtually. 

Mandarin has been taught as an optional subject, and for the past couple of years, Chinese ink-wash painting has also been taught.

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TIS is named after Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who is regarded as a venerable poet in both China and India. Tagore, who visited China in 1924 and 1928, symbolizes the essence of ties between the two countries.

Renowned Chinese intellectual Liang Qichao, while delivering a lecture titled "The Fraternal Relationship between the Cultures of India and China" to welcome Tagore to Beijing in April 1924, said, "The coming of Tagore will, I hope, mark the beginning of an important period of history."

TIS, founded in 1972, is working tirelessly to bridge the gap between the two countries and make Liang’s hope for Tagore become a reality, said Bhatia.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.