STORY: U.S. arts envoy emphasizes importance of cultivating China-U.S. youth friendship
SHOOTING TIME: June 25, 2024
DATELINE: June 28, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:48
LOCATION: FUZHOU, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the festival
2. various of people planting trees
3. SOUNDBITE (English): CARLA DIRLIKOV, U.S. opera singer, U.S. State Department Arts Envoy

STORYLINE:

The "Bond with Kuliang: 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival" is underway in east China's Fujian Province.

During the event, participants from China and the United States planted saplings in Kuliang, a hillside resort in the suburbs of Fuzhou City, as a symbolic gesture of friendship. 

Carla Dirlikov, a U.S. opera singer and arts envoy who participated in the event, emphasized the significance of fostering this bond.

SOUNDBITE (English): CARLA DIRLIKOV, U.S. opera singer, U.S. State Department Arts Envoy
"I'm hopeful because I see so many communities on both sides. And then the times that I've been here as an American, I've felt very welcomed by Chinese people. So I hope that Chinese people, when they come to the United States, either if they're there for longer studies or just for a visit, I really hope that they can feel the same spirit with which the Chinese people welcome the Americans here in Kuliang.
So each person like me who comes to a forum like this will go back and they will tell the stories to many people, their family, their friends, the new people that they meet. So it's like a little seed that you plant here, and the seed then gives a flower for many other people.
And I really thank Fujian for this, to plant the seeds for hopefully not just a flower, but a whole forest, a whole beautiful garden and forest that will blossom in the future.
This little seed, the trees that we planted, they will grow and they will bloom. And then one day, you know, maybe in the generations of generations of our children, there will be the fruits that will be given just from this initial effort. We must nourish the friendship. We must give it the water, give it the time and give it the care that it deserves."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Fuzhou, China.
(XHTV)