The Surging News reporter Wang Xinran
"Why do you want to come to China?"
Hearing this question, Chen Xiaokui, a South Korean student studying in China, told the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) that she watched a Chinese TV series for the first time in her third year of high school, and she had a strong interest in the plot, scenes and actors inside, and since she went to college, she has always wanted to come to China to see it.
From October 15 to 17, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai and the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association jointly held the "2021 China-South Korea Youth Expedition to Visit the Yangtze River Delta Region", of which Tsukui was one of them. She said that this is the first time she has left Shanghai after two months of coming to China, and she is very excited and looking forward to it.
There are many Korean students like her who are interested in China, either they love Chinese culture, or they come to China to study because of their parents' work transfers, or they want to challenge themselves, and they come to a foreign country alone. In this team, there are also Chinese students who are learning Korean, they are related to Korea for various reasons, and everyone can speak fluent Korean.
During the three-day and two-night event, a total of more than 20 students from the two countries visited Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region to reflect the history of the Korean independence movement and the Chinese revolution, deepening their understanding of China's modern history and the history of modern exchanges between China and South Korea. At the same time, in the process of experiencing Chinese culture together, they also formed a precious friendship through continuous exchanges.
Kim Seung-ho, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, said at the launching ceremony of the event that the ROK and China are close neighbors, and hoped that through this visit, the students would understand the wisdom of friendly coexistence between The ROK and China, have a good understanding of how to strengthen the friendly relations between neighbors, and encourage the students to learn from each other, learn from each other, and jointly make due contributions to The friendship between China and the ROK.
Dao Shuming, vice president of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, also pointed out that young people are the future of the world and the future of the healthy development of China-SOUTH Korea relations. The friendly relations between China and the ROK should be cherished and passed on by the young people of the two countries.
On October 15th, the launching ceremony of the "2021 China-Korea Youth Expedition" to visit the Yangtze River Delta region was held on the Yuexing No. 6 Pujiang Cruise Ship. Photo courtesy of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
Heavy history
At this event, more than 20 Chinese and Korean students from Shanghai Overseas Chinese University, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai Business School, Zhejiang University and other schools visited Shanghai, Yangzhou, Nanjing and other places.
The students visited the Meixuan Memorial Hall in Shanghai's Lu Xun Park (formerly known as "Hongkou Park"), remembered the Korean independence activist Yoon Bong-gil, and listened to the story of Choi Ji-won, the founder of Korean Chinese literature, at the Choi Chi-won Museum in Yangzhou. They laid wreaths on the rallying square of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall to mourn the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and the Japanese invasion of China, and also shuttled between the red-walled wooden doors of the site of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai, recalling the anti-Japanese restoration movement of patriotic patriots exiled overseas on the Korean Peninsula.
During the visit to the site, the young people of the two countries deepened their understanding of history and culture. Among them, many students told the surging news that they were extremely impressed by the former site of the comfort station in Liji Lane.
The former site of the Liji Lane Comfort Station was originally built by Kuomintang Lieutenant General Yang Puqing between 1935 and 1937 as a two-story brick and wood mixed structure, named "Puqing New Village". At the end of 1937, after the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, no. 2 Liji Lane was transformed into "Dongyun Comfort Station" and No. 18 was transformed into "Hometown Building Comfort Station", and later the two places were connected together.
According to previous reports, the former site of the Liji Lane Comfort Station is a branch of the Nanjing Massacre Compatriots Memorial Hall, the largest and most complete preserved former site of the Japanese military comfort station in Asia, and the first memorial hall with the theme of "comfort women" personally designated by the living "comfort women" in Chinese mainland.
In 2003, with the help of the China-Japan-Rok-Rok joint investigation team, The Korean "comfort woman" Park Yong-sin personally came to Nanjing and identified No. 2 Liji Lane as the "Dongyun Comfort Station" of that year, and room 19 on the upper floor of Liji Lane No. 2 was where she was detained.
The "China-ROK Youth Expedition" listens to the explanation in front of the portrait of the comfort women on the outer wall of the exhibition hall
When stepping into the former site of the Comfort Station in Liji Lane, facing the black-and-white portrait photos covered by the façade of the stadium, the students of the "ExpeditionAry Team" fell silent, folded their hands in front of them, and quietly listened to the staff tell this painful story.
Inside the museum, students walked down narrow corridors to rooms that had subjected women from many countries to both physical and psychological persecution and destruction, and frowned and sighed in the face of the painful history of historical photographs, videos and physical reproductions in front of them.
"I have known a little about this history before, and I can't describe my feelings when I actually see it." Very heartache. Li Yanhong, a student who participated in the event, told the surging news. Another Chinese student, Ren Hanchun, also said, "Looking back on this period of history is very heavy, which may be the meaning of the words do not forget history and remember the mission." ”
South Korean students wipe their tears for the relief sculpture "Endless Tears" in the museum, and the surging news reporter Wang Xinran is pictured
The commonality of the heart
"At the beginning of the trip, I was just excited to see the traditional culture of Yangzhou and other places. But from Lu Xun Park to the Nanjing Massacre Compatriots Memorial Hall, I also had a lot of ideas. Xiao Kui told the surging news that when China was mentioned before, there would be an impression that "it is different from its own history and culture." However, through this activity, I also learned that China and South Korea have jointly resisted the history of Japanese imperialist aggression, and the two countries have also had "similar pains."
"I saw my Chinese friends' concern for Korean history, and at the same time I felt heartache that China had experienced such a tragic history, and this event was of extraordinary significance and profound significance." Xuan Kui said that if there are such activities, he will continue to participate.
Chinese and Rok students mourn at the Memorial Hall of compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre, and The Paper's reporter Wang Xinran pictured this picture
Li Mingbi, a representative of the HERO Institute of History, said that a hundred years ago, China and South Korea jointly resisted the Japanese invasion, and a hundred years later, young people in China and South Korea should also hold hands and face the future together. Indeed, China and the ROK are close neighbors with close ties, learning from each other over thousands of years of exchanges, forming a deep historical and cultural bond. Among them, the young people of the two countries are not only a bridge to inherit friendship, but also a hope for the bright future of the two countries.
At the same time, such exchange activities have also allowed the young blood of China and South Korea to continue to intersect, and continue to contribute to the development of bilateral relations. The "2021 China-Korea Youth Expedition" has a different meaning for many students and has also brought them new harvests.
"Our respective lives are fixed and there is nothing particularly different every day. Doing the same thing, it is difficult to find new fate, new motivation. Kwon Bingxu, a South Korean student who has participated in the China-South Korea youth exchange activities many times, told the surging news that through this activity, he felt the enthusiasm of the students and the intention of the consul in charge of the activity.
He said reluctantly, "I am about to graduate, whether I am currently determined my future route, but what is certain is that the gender is different, the age is different, the nationality is different, the personality is different, and the opportunity to travel with such friends will definitely not be there again in the future." ”
As Kwon byung-wook puts it, this event allowed them to meet a "new fate" in a "new place", an experience that is invaluable.
The continuation of friendship
The activities of this "expedition" not only cover the young people's understanding of the history of the two countries, but also their expectations for the development of friendly relations in the future.
At a homemade Hankaku lantern activity, a Chinese student made a red, yellow, and blue work. When asked about the source of her creation, she said: "China's five-star red flag has red and yellow, and South Korea's Taiji flag has red and blue. I pasted them together on each side of the paper lamp, indicating that the friendship between China and South Korea will last forever. ”
And Korean students have the same idea. Shen Jilin, who studied in Shanghai, sang Zhou Huajian's "Friends" at the event, and after the song ended, he said to his friends, "South Korea and China are good friends." ”
As for why he chose this song, Shen said to the surging news with a smile afterwards, "It is difficult to Chinese songs, it is only a few Chinese songs that I can know... I want to sing this song to my friends. ”
Participating students make Hanpak lanterns Together Courtesy of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
This year and next year will be the year of cultural exchanges between China and South Korea, and next year will also usher in the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a meeting with Rok foreign minister Jeong Yi-rong in September this year that China and the ROK are close neighbors that cannot be moved, and even more inseparable partners. In the past 30 years, from mutual isolation to close exchanges, from mutual alienation to the establishment of strategic cooperative partnerships, China-ROK relations have continuously stepped up to a new level, becoming more and more mature and stable.
Rok Foreign Minister Jeong Eui-yong also responded at that time that the ROK side was willing to seize the opportunity of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the "Year of Chinese-Korea Exchanges" to give full play to the role of the ROK-China Relations Future Development Committee, expand people-to-people exchanges, and further develop ROK-China relations oriented to the future.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/wjbzhd/t1907149.shtml
On the basis of the good development of bilateral relations in the past 30 years, how to expand people-to-people exchanges between the two countries will attract much attention.
The "China-Korea Short Video Contest", which just ended, collected 271 works in more than a month, presenting the unique charm of Chinese and Korean culture from the first perspective, and full of the love and praise of the people of the two countries, especially the young people, for each other's national culture. The Korean theme activity and the Sino-Korean Symphony Night were also successfully held on the 10th of this month, and a number of classic songs familiar to the Chinese and Korean people triggered a warm response from the Chinese and Korean audiences. Under the impetus of the "China-Rok Year of Cultural Exchanges", there are many such activities, and cultural exchanges and humanistic cooperation at different levels and in different forms are being carried out with sound and color.
In the future, the two governments will continue to promote comprehensive exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture and art, sports, tourism, personnel and other fields, and after nearly 30 years of ups and downs, it is worth looking forward to how the relations between the two countries will move towards the next more exciting 30 years.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Wuwei
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang