Students from the People's Republic of China Public School in Casavalle, in the suburb of Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, walking through the school corridor on Oct. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Nicolas Celaya)
Five students from the People's Republic of China Public School in Casavalle, in the suburb of Montevideo, were chosen by lot to take part in the educational and cultural exchange tour to China.
MONTEVIDEO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Five Uruguayan students from a poor inner-city neighborhood recently took an 11-day trip in China, where they engaged in cultural activities and rode aboard the country's sleek high-speed rail.
The students from the People's Republic of China Public School in Casavalle, in the suburbs here, were chosen by lot to take part in the educational and cultural exchange tour to China.
The trip "opened doors" and "opened minds" for those involved, school principal Maria Sum, who accompanied the group, told Xinhua.
The five students -- Brian, Ezequiel, Bruno, Noelia and Florencia, aged 11 to 13 -- visited China from Aug. 3 to 17.
"We shared activities (like) paper cutting (with Chinese children). They tried their hand at calligraphy. We had lunch together ... and at no point was language a barrier," Sum said.
Brian recalled the school they visited in Qingdao, a coastal city in the east China's Shandong Province. "The school was very modern. They welcomed us with music and dance."
Noelia was impressed by the Qingdao aquarium where she saw "sharks and dolphins, which I have never seen before."
The Uruguayan students also played a friendly football match against their Chinese peers.
Apart from their school visit, the students also visited the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, where they saw the ancient terracotta warriors.
They took a return trip to Beijing by bullet train.
The Uruguayan students said their favorite Chinese dish was Peking duck. And all were impressed by two Chinese dining customs: having dinner at six in the evening, since back home dinner is never before 9 p.m., and drinking warm or hot water.
Lujan Melo, who has taught at the Uruguayan school for over 30 years, said the trip made the students value their English classes given that their Chinese counterparts were fluent in the language.
Sum and Melo said they appreciate the Chinese government for donating 2 million U.S. dollars to a new school building which is expected to be finished in March 2020.
The new building will have a Confucius Institute classroom for the study of Mandarin and Chinese culture.
Next summer, a group of Chinese students will visit the school as part of bilateral educational and cultural exchange between the two countries. ■
