China: Chinese, American students build lasting ties at Shaanxi summer camp.

Shotlist FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 2026 1. Various of Chinese, U.S. students participating in 2026 Gung Ho Summer Camp, participants posing for photos Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - Recent 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Devon Holderness, camp participant: "We noticed that the American students would always sit next to American students and the Chinese students would always sit next to Chinese students. And [during] one of the trips we just said you are not allowed to sit by the same nationality. So Chinese must sit with American and American must sit with Chinese. And at the beginning they were very nervous." FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China – July 2026 3. Various of Chinese, U.S. students playing together on bus, posing for photos 4. Participants visiting local museum Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - Recent 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Devon Holderness, camp participant (ending with shot 6): "Hearing the history made me understand a lot more about why modern China is the way modern China is and why they've developed like this. And I think it was very, very eye-opening. I loved learning about it." FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 2026 6. Museum interior 7. Students learning Chinese Kung Fu Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - Recent 8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Kaden, camp participant (full name not given) (ending with shot 9): "We took a taxi. We can also speak Chinese. I felt that he (the driver) was especially happy. He asked us to play some English music and sang along with us. Then he played Chinese music and we sang along with him. My feeling was that Chinese people and Americans are not that different." FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 2026 9. Various of students posing for photos Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - Recent 10. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Brayden, father of American student Graham (full name not given) (ending with shot 11): "He asks me how long it's going to be until we go back for next year's camp. He asked me like, how far away is that? Because he had such a good time." FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 2026 11. Students during summer camp Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - Recent 12. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Camp participant (name not given): "I think it definitely became more like in the back of my mind that that's a place that I could like go to for fun and go visit my friend's from the last trip." FILE: Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 2026 13. Photos of Chinese, U.S. students Storyline A cross-cultural youth exchange brought together 31 American students from Utah and 31 Chinese peers across Shaanxi Province this July for the 2026 Gung Ho Summer Camp, bridging cultural divides through shared travel, living quarters, and joint assignments. Jointly hosted by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Xi'an International Studies University, and the U.S.-based Helen Foster Snow Foundation, the initiative took participants through historic and cultural sites in Xi'an, Baoji, and Yan'an. Designed to deepen mutual understanding, the itinerary required American and Chinese students to live, dine, and collaborate on shared coursework throughout the multi-city journey. Living and eating together was not enough to break the ice at first, with students sticking close to peers from their own country. Everything changed when organizers set a mandatory bus rule requiring American and Chinese students to pair up. The awkwardness quickly faded, opening the door to real cross-cultural bonds across the trip. "We noticed that the American students would always sit next to American students and the Chinese students would always sit next to Chinese students. And [during] one of the trips we just said you are not allowed to sit by the same nationality. So Chinese must sit with American and American must sit with Chinese. And at the beginning they were very nervous," said Devon Holderness, an American student participating in the summer camp. A seemingly rigid rule broke the silence on the bus, and the friendship between the Chinese and American students began to take root. From Xi'an to Baoji and then to Yan'an, these young people gradually became partners. For these American students, a real chapter of Chinese history was presented before their eyes in a concrete and striking way for the first time. "Hearing the history made me understand a lot more about why modern China is the way modern China is and why they've developed like this. And I think it was very, very eye-opening. I loved learning about it," said Devon. These visits gave the American students a deeper understanding of China, while many small moments during the trip made their impressions of China more real and vivid. "We took a taxi. We can also speak Chinese. I felt that he (the driver) was especially happy. He asked us to play some English music and sang along