This is Hainan

On August 14th, 2019, young leaders of the 7th ASEAN-China Young Leaders Exchange Festival (ACYLEF) visited the permanent site of Boao Forum for Asia, Nanqiang village and Shamei village in Qionghai city, Hainan Province.

"The villages are so beautiful!” said Andi (Chinese name Liu Pingan), a freshman from Indonesia. He said he majored in Chinese Language Education at Xinya College in Indonesia. He has always been yearning for China's villages and traditional architecture, and he has seen some relative videos on overseas social media platforms. So he is very excited to come to Hainan to see the beautiful villages this time.

"I am very happy to know that there is such an exchange festival, because I hope that I can come to China to study someday, so I’ll cherish this opportunity," Andi told the reporter.

“The ball games on the second day of the festival promoted the exchanges and understanding between Hainan and ASEAN youths. I remembered that after the basketball game, the foreign players offer to shake hands with me and said, "this is a good game", I felt the cultural difference between China and foreign countries," said Zhang, an International Business major  student from Hainan University.

Young representatives from Hainan said that through this exchange festival, many young people from ASEAN countries have the idea of coming to study in China. This is a good way for them to better understand China and Hainan.

"On the way to Sanya, Indonesian young representatives saw the trains outside the window and asked if these are high-speed rails. I can feel their concern for China's advanced technologies. And the clean streets in Haikou also left a deep impression on them," Zhang added.

The festival is jointly organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China-ASEAN Association and the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province. About 100 young leaders from ASEAN countries and Hainan have a five-day field visit in Hainan.