Chapter 92: Overseas Exchanges
After the reform and opening up, the frequency of exchanges between China and foreign countries has greatly increased. Last year, the Youth League system held several exchanges between Chinese and foreign youths. In May, more than 400 foreign youths were invited to China to participate in the Asia-Pacific Youth Friendship Meeting. They exchanged with domestic youths in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and other places.
In July, another 438 French youths arrived in Beijing to participate in the ten-day China-France Youth Festival.
China invites foreign youth to visit China, and foreign countries also invite Chinese youth to their countries for exchanges. Zhang Changqing called Gao Jialin to talk about this matter. "Japan has invited us to invite Chinese youth to Tokyo and other places to exchange with Japanese youth. The Youth Federation and the Student Union have selected some outstanding young people as representatives of the national youth to participate in this exchange, and you are among them.
The China Youth Federation is the All-China Youth Federation, which, like the China Students' Federation, is one of the basic people's organizations under the leadership of the Party.
"When are we going? What preparations should I make?" Gao Jialin asked.
Why Japan? Gao Jialin did not find it strange, because in the 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations were in a honeymoon period. Japan wanted to enter the Chinese market, and China also needed Japanese capital and technology to develop its economy.
Therefore, exchanges between the two countries are very frequent. Japanese have come to China to shoot a number of excellent literary and artistic works such as "Dunhuang", "The Story of the Yangtze River", and "The Silk Road", and there have also been many achievements in the field of youth exchanges.
In 1984, Yasuhiro Nakasone visited China and agreed with our No. 1 that the two countries would jointly fund the construction of the China-Japan Youth Exchange Center, and the design and construction would also be completed by personnel from both countries.
The designers of the China-Japan Youth Exchange Center are Li Zongze from the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design and the famous Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. Kisho Kurokawa later worked on many projects in China, including the planning of Zhengdong New District in Zhengzhou.
It is not surprising that Japan now invites Chinese youth representatives to visit. In the short term, it is to enhance the relationship between the two countries. In the long run, they also want to leave some deep impressions on China's outstanding youth and let them come back to spread Japanese culture.
"Next month, you will have concentrated training with other youth representatives to learn some basic Japanese for daily communication and the disciplines of foreign affairs exchanges. Only if you pass all these can you go abroad. This is a big deal and you must take it seriously. The school will also cooperate. We have invited teachers from the School of Foreign Languages to give you extra lessons, so that you will have a greater chance of passing the assessment." Zhang Changqing solemnly warned.
He was so envious. Who doesn't want to go abroad nowadays, especially to a developed country like Japan? He didn't expect that Gao Jialin would have the opportunity to go to Tokyo before it was his turn.
"I understand. I will definitely take it seriously." Gao Jialin was not so eager to go abroad, but it would be good to be able to go out and take a look. By then, he could learn more about the situation in Japan and write something to submit for internal reference. Perhaps it would help the country avoid some detours.
From that day on, Gao Jialin went to the Foreign Languages College to learn Japanese with teacher Pan Xingyu whenever he had time. He studied very hard. There was definitely no harm in knowing one more foreign language. It would be useful in this world, and it might be even more useful when he traveled to other worlds in the future.
He had watched a lot of teachers' works in those days, so he had some basic knowledge. Now Teacher Pan taught him attentively, and he studied seriously. He soon mastered some basic communication languages, such as "Aligato", "Smith Maasai", "Sikokuichi", and "Kimi no Naka ni wa wa someone" and he could say them very well.
Just after he learned “What do you want? What do you say? What do you say?”, the Student Union sent him an official notice, asking him to receive two days of training in Shanghai together with other Shanghai youth representatives, and then go to Beijing together.
Duan Xiaodong from Fudan University is also one of the representatives. He performed well in school and has an extraordinary family background, so he naturally would not miss such a good opportunity.
Along the way, these young representatives were very excited, imagining what they would see on their first trip abroad. Is Japan as corrupt as described in "The Magnificent Family"? Are Japanese girls as bold and beautiful as Mayumi in "The Chase"?
When they arrived in Beijing, they participated in training with hundreds of young representatives. The teacher showed them the current situation in Japan through pictures and videos. Seeing the bustling streets, towering buildings, and fashionable young men and women, the young representatives were greatly shocked.
To the extent that teachers had to remind them that they must behave neither humbly nor arrogantly when participating in foreign affairs activities and must never do anything that would damage the national dignity, otherwise they would be immediately deported and severely punished.
Many people were eliminated during the training process because they either acted too excitedly or said something out of line. Their leaders were worried that they would say or do something they shouldn't do in Japan, so they asked them to go back.
No wonder they are so cautious. There have been too many incidents during foreign affairs exchanges in recent years. For example, a tennis player went to the United States to participate in a competition, but ran away when he saw how rich the United States was, and the entire delegation was implicated.
Many years later, when China became rich, she came back to make money. I don’t know where she got such a thick face from.
The young representatives selected this time have all undergone strict political review, and those with the slightest problem will not be included in the list. However, the leaders are still not at ease and train them on various disciplines over and over again.
You cannot contact Japanese youths alone. When you go out to communicate, you must act as a team, at least in pairs. You are not allowed to accept gifts from the Japanese privately. If there is a real need, you must report to your superiors and only accept them after permission, and then give a return gift of equal value, etc.
You have to memorize all of these, without making any mistakes in any words, and you also have to take an exam and pass it before you can go abroad.
After rounds of screening, out of more than one hundred people, only more than thirty young representatives got the opportunity to visit and exchange in Japan. Gao Jialin and Duan Xiaodong were among them.
This was not only their first time to travel abroad, but also their first time to take a plane. They all felt very novel when they boarded the Japan Airlines Douglas DC-8-62. Fortunately, they had not forgotten the content of the training course, so they did not do anything out of the ordinary. At most, they just whispered about it with their friends around them.
After a three-hour flight, the plane landed at Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Gao Jialin followed the crowd out of the cabin and stood at the top of the gangway looking down. He saw several politicians and a group of Japanese youths lining up below to welcome them. They were holding flowers and national flags of the two countries, and waving signs of China-Japan friendship.
The most eye-catching thing is a huge banner with the words "Welcome Chinese Youth to Japan" written in Chinese and Japanese. It is so enthusiastic.
There will be another chapter later
(End of this chapter)
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