BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Dancer and theater professor Margaret Carmichael recently returned to scenic Kuliang in the eastern suburbs of China's coastal Fuzhou City for her second visit. The mountain summer retreat holds a century of memories for her family.

Lydia Trimble, Carmichael's great-grandaunt, moved to China in 1889, driven by the belief that education could transform the lives of Chinese women and future generations. After founding elementary and middle schools for girls in Fujian, she founded Hwa Nan College -- one of the first women's colleges in China.

Since the 1880s, foreign expatriates have built summer villas in Kuliang, blending cultures and building sentiment with local residents. Remnants of Trimble's former residence still stand beside a quiet lake in Kuliang, where Trimble, her family and teachers traveled together to work, sing songs and celebrate holidays, according to Carmichael.

Decades later, the melodies continue to echo through the hills, now sung by a new generation.

The Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival took place from July 10 to 18 in Fuzhou and Beijing, co-organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Fujian Provincial People's Government. Themed "Sing for Peace," the event gathered nearly 30 youth choirs from both countries, totaling over 1,000 participants. Carmichael was invited as a special guest.

The 2025 event featured concerts, visits, flash mobs and more. Through song and dialogue, young people from both nations forged their own bonds, and it became the largest themed youth exchange to take place since China launched its initiative to welcome 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over a five-year period.

CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTER

Close to 500 members of 10 youth choirs from across the United States visited China for the festival. For many, it was their first time setting foot on Chinese soil.

"I've never left my own country, so I've only known Western cultures. When you come here it's like a whole new playing field. You learn new customs and culture. I just think it's really cool," said Isaac Hunsaker, a member of Tacoma Youth Choir from Washington State.

On the opening day of the event, Hunsaker traveled to Kuliang and joined his Chinese peers in adding color to a 20-meter scroll featuring landmarks of Fujian and Beijing.

Hunsaker said "beautiful" is the only word he could use to describe Kuliang, but what also won his heart was its rich history.

"I think it impacts us in all positive ways. These friendships create long-lasting memories too. When we have these friendships, we can come together and do amazing things," he said.

Staging multiple performances throughout the festival, the 41 members of the Yuying Choir from Fuzhou No. 16 Middle School were a frequent and vibrant presence.

Yuying Choir member Chen Fangshuo said that it was her first time singing alongside her peers from the United States.

In early 2025, a video of the One Voice Children's Choir from Utah performing "Wish" in Beijing's Temple of Heaven went viral on Chinese social media. When the choir visited Chen's school, she presented a new American friend with a ceramic vase that she had made as a gift. In return, she received a bracelet bearing the One Voice logo, which she wore throughout the performances that followed.

"During rehearsals, we taught each other games and language, and chatted about our favorite singers -- like Zhou Shen and Taylor Swift," Chen said.

"At first, I was a bit worried about the language barrier, but everyone was so warm and friendly. We connected quickly. We were all curious about each other's cultures, and we all loved singing and taking selfies," she said, adding that through such exchanges, "you and me" slowly turned into "us."

LANGUAGE OF MUSIC AND ART

In 1979, the Young Ambassadors from Brigham Young University (BYU) became the first performance group from the United States to visit China following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. At the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Alexander Keogh, a member of the BYU Select Singers Choir, recounted this historic moment to the audience in fluent Chinese.

"Among all the titles BYU holds, one of the most important for us is 'an old friend of China," Keogh said. "That's why you'll find several of our choir members, like me, are dedicated to learning its beautiful language."

He added that people who speak different languages and come from different cultures can form bonds through music, building bridges of music, culture, friendship and heart.

Speaking of the Young Ambassadors, Stacey Christensen, an artist manager at BYU Performing Arts Management, noted that the group remains active on stage to this day, and is scheduled to return to China in October.

For 40 years, the Young Ambassadors have used music to bridge hearts. A beloved Chinese song has linked two cities and two schools on opposite sides of the Pacific.

Fuzhou and Tacoma have shared a close sister-city friendship for over 30 years. In 2008, the Affiliated High School of the Fuzhou Institute of Education (FIE) and Lincoln High School in Tacoma signed a memorandum on exchange. They have since facilitated over 10 student and teacher exchanges, including the recent choir festival, which 39 students and teachers from Lincoln attended.

In September 2015, five students from the Fuzhou school visited Washington and performed the Chinese song "On the Hopeful Field" together with the Lincoln choir.

This time around, two of those students returned to their alma mater and joined its current choir to sing the song once again with their American peers.

"Our voices have crossed 10 years, bearing witness to the enduring friendship between Chinese and American youth," said Lu Jiayi, one of the two returning students.

Lynn Eisenhauer, a choir teacher at Lincoln, has visited China seven times. She describes her return to the Affiliated High School of FIE as "coming home."

"My memory instantly went back to 10 years ago in the auditorium of Lincoln High School," Lu told Eisenhauer, who was moved to tears.

"I have had the opportunity to help hundreds of students in Tacoma learn the song," said Eisenhauer, speaking also about how that history can grow and go on to live in the young people of Tacoma.

LEGACY CONNECTING PAST AND FUTURE

Sydney Crandall, a member of the BYU Select Singers Choir, fell in love with Beijing for the ginkgo trees that line its streets and alleys.

Crandall's bond with China began quietly. Her grandparents once studied in Hong Kong, and her uncle had visited China as a member of the BYU Young Ambassadors.

Her grandfather gave her a Chinese name and prepared flashcards she could use to learn Chinese.

Crandall called her grandfather from Beijing to share details of her "incredible" trip, and her grandparents told her they would return.

Opera singer and U.S. State Department Arts Envoy Carla Canales said she saw "curiosity sparked by this experience" in the eyes of the young Americans. She said she believes the experience will stay with them for a lifetime.

Canales also shared her hopes for these young Americans: that they would never forget this experience, and that they would stay in touch with their Chinese peers.

"That can be 60 years of a beautiful friendship. Friendship is like planting a flower or a tree in a forest. You have to give it time. Time is the water," she said.

Elyn MacInnis is the founder of Friends of Kuliang, which is a group that gathers descendants of U.S. families who once lived in Kuliang. MacInnis had a father-in-law who was a member of the Flying Tigers and later a teacher in Fuzhou.

"My expectation for the youth is that they have fun, that they spend time together and talk about everything, and that they relax and have a chance to become friends. I think it's a wonderful continuation of the Kuliang young story," she said.

"We hope that through this platform for exchange, young people from both countries will come to understand that different cultures can learn from and inspire one another, and grow together," Shen Xin, vice president of CPAFFC, told Xinhua. ■