STORY: American students celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in China's Guizhou
SHOOTING TIME: Sept. 17, 2024
DATELINE: Sept. 19, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:08
LOCATION: GUIYANG, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LIAM HOPKINS-LAGAN, Student of Science and Math Institute
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ISABELLA FERGUSON, Student of West Valley High School

STORYLINE:

A group of 79 American students and teachers spent the Mid-autumn Festival on Tuesday with local residents and tourists in Taipan Village of Taijiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province.
   
They sang the famous Chinese song "The Moon Represents My Heart" and danced the traditional Miao-style dance.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LIAM HOPKINS-LAGAN, Student of Science and Math Institute
"The song (we sang) is really nice. I think it's gonna be stuck in my head for a while, because I just love singing it. The festival is really, really fun. There're just tons of activities and they're all super fun. I really like the atmosphere, very nice positive vibes. Since I'm over here, I don't get to spend it with my family, but I sent a postcard back talking about it."

Earlier in the day, the group experienced the process of making sour soup and learned to play Lusheng and perform wood drum dance. 

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ISABELLA FERGUSON, Student of West Valley High School
"Today we went to one of the Miao villages, and we were welcomed with this beautiful ceremony and learned to cook the traditional food, listen to their music, and their drumming. And it's been very nice to get to know the other students and the people from here as well."

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