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Chongqing- On July 6, 82 international students in Chongqing from 30 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, France and Russia, etc., participated in the "Experience Chongqing – Rural Revitalization" Social Practice and Cultural Experience of Foreign University Students in Chongqing at Rongchang District. During the two-day event, they had a close look at the achievements of rural revitalization and perceived the history and culture of the thousand-year-old ancient town in Chongqing.

Experience rural life

The students were thrilled at the rippling lake, running stream, flourishing trees and well-proportioned houses at the Lins' Yard in Shangshu Village, which is located beside a colorful road in Rongchang. Just a few years ago, it was a different picture here. Owing to the joint efforts of the villagers and the General Party Branch of the village to improve the environment, the Lins' Yard has turned clean and beautiful since 2018.

"The yard makes me feel like home, even though it's thousands of miles away from my hometown." Moody, a student in Southwest University from Yemen, said excitedly that the beauty of the yard reminded him of his hometown, which he had left for two and a half years. For him, that was the biggest surprise of the trip.

Touch the history and culture

With a history of more than 1,000 years, Wanling Ancient Town is well known for its profound culture and plain but elegant water scenery. Students felt the long history and appealing culture here.

"This big waterwheel is very interesting. It is the crystallization of ancient wisdom." Lily, a student in Chongqing University from Turkmenistan, was very keen on the device, which is still well preserved and carries the long memory of the town.

Andy, from Uzbekistan, was curious about every corner of the town. As a photography enthusiast, he kept pressing the shutter throughout the whole trip to ensure that no beautiful scenery would be missed. Andy said that the ancient town is a good place for him to learn about the culture of Chongqing and even China.

Feel the craftsmanship

As one of the four famous ceramics in China, Rongchang Ceramics is naturally one of the destinations of this event. At the Belt and Road Ceramic Expo Center, the international students had a close look at the production process of Rongchang Ceramics and tried to make it by themselves.

"It's so hard! It’s so hard! It's easy when we watch the teachers. However, it's totally different when you do it yourself." The common response of the international students on how to fix the clay into a pretty shape was that "our eyes master the techniques, but our hands don't."

While visiting the Ceramic Industrial Park, they appreciated many exquisite ceramic products.

So far, the industrial park has attracted more than 70 ceramic enterprises, which secure a total annual output value of nearly 8 billion yuan and offer about 10,000 jobs. The ceramic industry in Rongchang District is expected to achieve a total industrial output value of 50 billion yuan by 2030.