STORY: American students visit Chengdu panda base
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Aug. 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:41
LOCATION: CHENGDU, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of American students visiting Chengdu panda base
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): APARNA VISWANATHANA, Incoming student of University of Chicago
3. various of American students drawing pandas
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): OLIVIA DIETRICH, Incoming student of Wesleyan University
5. various of American students visiting Chengdu panda base
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ALEXANDRA CARAUS, Incoming student of Virginia Tech
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MYLES KING, Incoming student of Oxford University
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): OLIVIA DIETRICH, Incoming student of Wesleyan University

STORYLINE:
Nearly 30 American students have recently visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Under the theme of "China Culture Heritages and Sustainability," they were invited by Southwest Jiaotong University to visit southwest China's Sichuan Province.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): APARNA VISWANATHAN, Incoming student at University of Chicago
"I think the pandas are kind of an entryway for people to learn more about Chinese culture and history. The pandas are in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. where I live, so I was able to see them once before. And then I was able to come to China to see them again. And in doing so, I was able to learn so much more about Chinese culture and come here to see Chengdu itself, and all of its beautiful surroundings. So I think the pandas have been a great like spokesperson for the issues of conservation and for Chinese culture."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): OLIVIA DIETRICH, Incoming student of Wesleyan University
"This is my block print painting and it's titled 'Two Ambassadors'. It's a picture of two pandas meeting each other that we saw at the panda enclosure. And I thought it was really interesting that these pandas kind of are service ambassadors and can create bridges between countries, so I wanted to capture that in my artwork. I think it was really cool to be able to create a message out of an art piece and then also really explore an art form that's been part of Chinese culture for so long."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ALEXANDRA CARAUS, Incoming student of Virginia Tech
"Today I got inspiration from what we saw the previous day. We went to visit Chengdu panda base and I thought that was really interesting because we were able to see pandas in their natural habitat. And I incorporated the natural elements of lotuses and traditional flowers from all around China."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MYLES KING, Incoming student of Oxford University
"In this painting, I really tried to focus on beautiful landscapes and thinking about sort of like larger pictures that I tend to appreciate when I see them in person. And so I wanted to recreate that on paper. Yesterday we were out in the mountains and we saw a lot of mountains and a lot of trees. So I tried to recreate a little bit of that image here. I want to convey a sense of calm and peacefulness. I think that this scene at least to me is very calming and quite peaceful. And so I hope that when people look at it they feel a little bit of that as well."

Some of them expressed the hope for solidarity among humankind.

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): OLIVIA DIETRICH, Incoming student of Wesleyan University
"Pandas enable people to rally in support of something and everyone to come together about a topic. I think everyone really wants the pandas to survive and they want to see pandas and I think that's such a positive thing."

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