2024 Camp Gung Ho participants pose for a group photo after arriving in Wuxi. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

Forty-six students from seven states of the United States, including California and Washington, kicked off the 2024 Camp Gung Ho in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on July 24, alongside their 48 Chinese counterparts.

One student from North Carolina commented that Wuxi residents are very enthusiastic and that the local food is delicious. She said that she cannot wait to explore the beautiful city.

A 2024 Camp Gung Ho participant tries making purple clay teaware. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

A packed schedule defines their busy trip in the city: Visit Yixing for bamboo forests and purple clay teaware, Three Kingdoms City, the Helyu City Site Museum, Nianhua Bay, and Huishan Ancient Town, where participants will experience traditional Chinese culture and Jiangnan watertowns.

Michael Crook, chairman of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, Yang Shunfan, founder of Shuijun – a popular rice cracker brand in China, and other heavyweights of different fields will engage in face-to-face discussions with the students.

2024 Camp Gung Ho participants pose for a photo at Nianhua Bay. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

The summer camp is sponsored by China Prospect Program, a public welfare promotion center in Shanghai, and the Helen Foster Snow Foundation. The participating US teenagers are aged between 13 and 17, and all of them have learned Chinese for over five years, said William Wang, general secretary of China Prospect Program.