On July 20th, in order to continuously deepen educational exchanges between Shanghai and international sister cities, and enhance friendship and understanding among young people from around the world, the "2023 Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp" was launched at Shanghai Shidong High School (Shanghai Shidong Middle School), sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, undertaken by the Yangpu District Education Bureau, and co organized by the Yangpu Education International Exchange Service Center and the International Education Association Shanghai. Wang Ping, Deputy Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, attended the event and awarded the camp flag to representatives of foreign campers. Ye Linlin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Liu Guangyong, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Wang Hao, Deputy Mayor of Yangpu District, and Jiang Haishan, President of the International Education Association Shanghai, attended the opening ceremony.
The event invited officials and representatives from the Consulates General and Offices of 9 countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Slovakia, and Sri Lanka, as well as representatives from relevant education bureaus, high school principals, teachers, and student volunteers, to join forces with foreign campers and students from 13 cities in 12 countries to jointly launch the annual international sister cities youth camp.
On the opening ceremony, Ye Linlin, Deputy Director of the Municipal Education Commission, and Wang Hao, Deputy Mayor of Yangpu District, delivered speeches on behalf of the organizing units. Anura Fernando, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Shanghai, delivered a speech as a representative of an international sister city.
Ye Linlin stated that as Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a socialist modern international metropolis with global influence, it has established extensive cooperative relationships with countries around the world and carried out various forms of educational exchange activities. Shanghai Education will comprehensively and deeply promote high-level opening-up to the outside world, contributing Shanghai wisdom and solutions to enhance mutual learning and culture among countries, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Wang Hao stated that as an event organizer, Yangpu District is an innovative, open, and inclusive area, committed to building a new highland of openness to the outside world. He looks forward to young people sharing culture and perspectives, exploring ways to solve global problems, cultivating teamwork and social responsibility, and experiencing friendship and growth during summer camp.
Anura Fernando stated that sister cities are important links between a country's economy, culture and technology. Through programs such as the Youth Camp, sister cities can exchange and influence each other, with a focus on culture, art and youth sustainable development education, which helps promote peace and understanding.
Since 2009, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission has held an annual "Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp". With the strong support of sister cities in various countries, the youth camp has been successfully held for thirteen sessions, with a total of 1431 teachers and students from 41 international sister cities in 37 countries participating, cultivating a group of knowledgeable and friendly Chinese students; 670 middle school students from nearly 60 schools in Shanghai participated in youth camp activities and served as a volunteer.
Influenced by the global COVID-19, the youth camps in 2021 and 2022 were organized by Yangpu District through online. Network technology empowers more friendly cities and regions around the world to be interconnected, enabling young people from various countries to learn and communicate online. During this process, the youth camp's "one district hosting and multi district linkage" approach significantly enhanced the service, contribution, and influence of education opening up in various districts of Shanghai.
The 2023 Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp will be held from July 18th to July 31st. As an important window for young students from all over the world to touch on colorful China and perceive the charm of Shanghai, this year's summer camp is the world's first offline show, attracting attention from around the world. 73 campers from 13 cities in 12 countries gathered in Shanghai to study excellent traditional Chinese culture courses, such as Chinese language and traditional Chinese painting, intangible cultural heritage, Han suit, palace lantern, disk link, Paper Cuttings, seal cutting, calligraphy, pottery, tea art, paper spreading, dragon dance, kungfu fan, etc., with their Shanghai peers, make course models for urban creators, exchange with youth forums in sister cities, survey of urban cultural landscape, visit to universities and venues Activities such as city oriented challenges and local family life experiences, waiting for sister city agreements and blooming with youthful charm.
In addition to a rich and colorful experience of summer camp physical activities, campers and volunteers can also log in to the online platform of the summer camp anytime and anywhere according to their needs to obtain information on summer camp activities, processes, strategies, and the course content of Shanghai's cultural landscape, Chinese language learning, traditional Chinese culture, family exchanges, and other resource libraries. Whether it's traveling to Shanghai from the perspective of peers, following a team of professional teachers to explain and appreciate Chinese culture, or walking into the homes of Shanghai volunteers to experience the lifestyle of Shanghai residents firsthand... The sister cities youth camp digital platform, which integrates over 200 courses, over 10000 minutes of videos, and over 20000 original photos, maximizes the needs of campers to have a deeper understanding of Shanghai and the summer camp, assist young people from all over the world in experiencing summer camps together.
The summer camp activities adopt a one-on-one immersive training model between campers from sister cities and volunteers from Shanghai middle schools. Starting from early June, student volunteers from relevant high schools in six districts of Shanghai and campers from sister cities have been in constant contact through email, WeChat, and other means to exchange information, introduce activity overview, understand preparatory matters, and express their expectations for communication. On July 18th, upon arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the campers of the sister city met their friendly volunteer partners. Everyone was extremely excited, holding hands and hugging tightly.
On the opening ceremony, Belgian camper Margo Thoné Hermans, who participated in the summer camp for the second time, and William Saeys, who participated in the summer camp for the first time, excitedly shared their expectations for the camp: "We can finally truly meet everyone! We can't wait to explore Chinese culture in real life. Let's make full use of the two weeks of summer camp, enjoy every minute and every second, and create unforgettable memories for a lifetime!"
Shanghai volunteers fully utilize their interests, strengths, and social skills, responding to the enthusiasm of fellow campers with patience, attention to detail, and love. They actively participate in student directing, publicity, hosting, information technology, vehicle management, and logistics support teams, ensuring the smooth and orderly implementation of summer camp activities while promoting campers from all countries to fully understand Chinese culture and experience the charm of Shanghai.
