Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, east China - July 10, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of opening ceremony for "Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival"
2. Chinese, American youths talking with each other

Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, east China - July 10-13, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of youths from Brigham Young University's choirs performing songs
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bella Thurgood, member, Concert Choir, Brigham Young University (partially overlaid with shot 5):
"I think I'm just really grateful for how welcoming, just a smile and a wave, it's like you could make a friend. And I think it's really cool to make friends with people from other countries, in their country. I think is a really special experience."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
5. Various of Chinese, U.S. students taking photos
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
6. Various of U.S. students watching humanoid robot demonstrations, copying its movements
7. Various of U.S. students trying hands on crafting Chinese fans
8. Various of Chinese, U.S. students exchanging gifts, contact information
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Hu Zimo, member, Yuying Choir, Fuzhou No.16 Middle School (ending with shot 10):
"They (American youths) brought gray wristbands to exchange with us, and I gave them a fridge magnet. It felt really new and exciting -- all of us came together here to sing because of the same passion."
10. Various of Chinese, U.S. students taking photos, performing together

Beijing, China - July 14-18, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. U.S. students experiencing traditional Chinese crafts
12. American girl dressed in traditional Chinese costume posing for photo
13. Various of Chinese, U.S. students at exchange event
14. Scenery of Beihai Park
15. Various of U.S. students performing song in Beihai Park, tourists taking photos
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Steven Hubbard, director, Wind Choir (ending with shot 17):
"Just during my study and my research on the culture here in Beijing, I found out that rain means a good fortune and good luck to the community and to the world. So we want to spread that here while we are in China as well."
17. Various of visiting U.S. youths taking photos with Chinese people
18. U.S. students walking on Great Wall

China - July 10-18, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
19. Various of U.S. students continuing their trip in China, learning traditional Chinese crafts
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Carla Canales, Senior Advisor to U.S. Presidential Commission on Arts and Humanities; guest lecturer at Harvard University (ending with shot 21):
"If you start a friendship when you're 15, 17, 18, 20, what that friendship can grow into when you're 50, 60, 70, 80 years old. That can be 60 years of a beautiful friendship. So now I see that there are friendships being planted and I really hope that a whole forest, a whole beautiful garden of friendships will grow with time."
21. Various of U.S. students continuing their trip in China, taking photos, visiting park

The 10-day "Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival", which concluded on Friday, has deepened mutual understanding and fostered enduring friendships among participants from both countries.

The event is one of the largest youth exchange programs between the two nations since Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study over the next five years, during his visit to San Francisco in Nov 2023.

Under the theme of "Singing for Peace", over 1,000 participants from nearly 30 youth choirs from both China and the U.S. came together in Fuzhou, the capital city of east China's Fujian Province, and Beijing, to engage in musical performances and cultural exchanges.

The event served as a vivid continuation of the century-old friendship rooted in Kuliang, or "Guling" in Mandarin, a scenic hillside retreat in the suburbs of Fuzhou, where generations of American expatriates once lived and formed deep bonds with the local community.

One of the most touching moments of the gathering came when members of the Brigham Young University's (BYU) Concert Choir joined their Chinese peers at Fujian Normal University in Fuzhou to perform a bilingual rendition of "Auld Lang Syne".

Bella Thurgood, a member of the BYU Concert Choir, expressed her gratitude for the warm welcome she and her teammates received.

"I think I'm just really grateful for how welcoming, just a smile and a wave, it's like you could make a friend. And I think it's really cool to make friends with people from other countries, in their country. I think is a really special experience," said Thurgood.

Beyond the musical performances, American participants watched humanoid robot demonstrations, tried their hands at traditional Chinese crafts, and exchanged gifts and contact information with their Chinese peers.

"They (American youths) brought gray wristbands to exchange with us, and I gave them a fridge magnet. It felt really new and exciting -- all of us came together here to sing because of the same passion," said Hu Zimo, a member of the Yuying Choir from Fuzhou No.16 Middle School.

Many American participants were visiting China for the first time and spoke of how the trip refreshed their understanding on China, leaving them with a deeper appreciation for its culture, landscapes, and hospitality.

The Wind Choir from Chicago brought a flash mob performance at the iconic Beihai Park in Beijing, where they sang a song themed around rain.

"Just during my study and my research on the culture here in Beijing, I found out that rain means a good fortune and good luck to the community and to the world. So we want to spread that here while we are in China as well," said Mark Steven Hubbard, director of the Wind Choir.

Carla Canales, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Presidential Commission on Arts and Humanities and a guest lecturer at Harvard University, emphasized the importance of youth exchanges.

"If you start a friendship when you're 15, 17, 18, 20, what that friendship can grow into when you're 50, 60, 70, 80 years old. That can be 60 years of a beautiful friendship. So now I see that there are friendships being planted and I really hope that a whole forest, a whole beautiful garden of friendships will grow with time," said Canales.