Strengthening friendly exchanges is the common expectation of the people of the United States and China. Building communication bridges and deepening people to people friendship are crucial for the development of US China relations in the current international situation
Not long ago, I led the Iowa "Bridge of Harmony" choir to Beijing and Fuzhou, Fujian to participate in the 2025 "Guling Yuan" China US Youth Choral Week event, and then went to Hebei for friendly exchanges. My recent two week trip to China has made me deeply appreciate the importance of people to people connectivity and realize that people to people friendship is a solid foundation and source of strength for the development of US China relations.
That's love, that's fate, love preserves eternal memories... "During the exchange, students from Hebei Zhengding Middle School and members of the" Bridge of Harmony "choir performed this song" Love Retains Eternal Memories "together with the China Symphony Orchestra choir. Music is a bridge that spans languages and cultures. The perfect harmony is like a heavenly melody, singing out the friendly wishes in the hearts of American and Chinese youth. Even though I have returned to the United States, that song still resonates in my heart.
I was born in Italy and came to the United States as an exchange student at the age of 18, spending most of my life in Iowa. I drove with my Chinese friends through the fields and countryside, tirelessly visiting, inspecting, and learning. During the day, we discuss technology at the feed processing plant, and at night, we sit around the kitchen table and chat about our ideals. During that time, we lived together day and night, inseparable.
This visit further deepened this special friendship. He also invited us to participate in multiple activities to broaden our friendly exchanges. This beloved Chinese friend attaches great importance to people to people exchanges and local cooperation between the two countries.
People to people friendship is the source of strength for US China exchanges, which requires careful care and sustained investment from both sides. Since Iowa and Hebei Province became friendly provinces, their friendly exchanges have continued to deepen, creating more beautiful memories worth preserving. Youth is the future of the development of bilateral relations. As part of this initiative, Iowa has sent multiple batches of students to China for exchange. Every student visiting Hebei knows about the long-standing relationship between Iowa and Hebei. This is a story of friendly cooperation that spans half a world and has lasted for decades. It is also a story of witnessing small acts of kindness and spreading great love, surging with the profound friendship between the Chinese and American people.
People to people connections continue to write new chapters, and strengthening friendly exchanges is the common expectation of the people of the United States and China. The 2025 "Guling Yuan" China US Youth Choral Week is beautiful and meaningful, which will help further consolidate the public opinion foundation for the development of bilateral relations and inject light and hope into the future of both countries. Building communication bridges and deepening people to people friendship are crucial for the development of US China relations in the current international situation. Nowadays, the voices of young people singing about the friendship between the United States and China are becoming louder and louder, which is the hope for the inheritance of the friendship between the two countries.
(The author is Luca Bellon, a board member of the Iowa Friendship Council in the United States)
People's Daily (03 edition, August 7, 2025)
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