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The chance to tour China for 10 days sparked intense competition among the ambitious students of Yale University. But with her ability to speak Chinese, 21-year-old Erica Smith stood out from her Ivy League classmates.

 

During his 2006 US visit, President Hu Jintao had invited Yale to send a delegation to China.

 

Smith was among the 100 students and staff chosen, and became an unofficial translator during the 10-day trip in May.

 

Smith was already acquainted with China, spending eight months studying at a Beijing university last year. Her recent return instilled an even deeper connection to the Middle Kingdom. "I think we've all found a new place and understanding about China in our hearts," Smith said. "I love this country."

 

 

Erica Smith talks with local farmers at Baicun Village near Xi'an of Shaanxi Province.    Photos by Hu Liang

 

The group toured major historical sites in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an in Shaanxi Province. But for Smith, simple moments spent with the host family, making dumplings, or trying her hand at the art of calligraphy, were the most memorable.

 

"This family experience is a full combination of everything that I wanted to do, and show my friend, who is new to China," she said.

 

"It is just my perfect goal. Talking with peer students in China has been the most rewarding."

 

For Hannah Collins, a music graduate student with a Chinese background, the trip inspired her to delve into her heritage.

 

Collin's grandfather was a native of Guangzhou in south China, and even taught her to pronounce her name in Chinese: Han Na.

 

"Having Chinese heritage but not being able to speak Chinese, I feel ashamed about it," Collins said. "Being here, I realize that learning Chinese, which is intimidating in the US, could not be that difficult."

 

Collins said she now planned to study the language on returning to the United States.

 

She was impressed by a meeting with a local student at Xi'an Jiaotong University.

 

"She is so informative," Collins said.

 

"As a medical student, she knows a lot about international policies and situations, such as global warming."

 

At Xi'an, in the country's Northwest, Smith and a classmate spent half a day with two Chinese college students. They visited the city's Drum Tower and a local Hui ethnic minority area, then shared a meal of dumpling at their host's home.

 

Their conversation gave Smith greater understanding of the contrast between a Chinese college student's life and her own. She came away with new respect for the pressure these students face, from entrance exams onwards.

 

"The idea of college here is very different with ours from the beginning," Smith said.

 

"At the campus in the United States, we can play, study, join clubs and go partying to have fun.

 

"I don't think I can do what the Chinese students do. I give them credit for being so dedicated to study."

 

The Yale delegation discovered rural China during a visit to Baicun in Liquan County, a village not far from Xi'an. Baicun, which means white village, boasts a successful local industry in apple farming.

 

The college guests were invited to visit farmers' homes in groups of about ten.

 

Sitting on wooden chairs in the living room of Li Junshe's two-storey house, the curious guests quizzed the 53-year-old on every aspect of a farmer's life, from annual income to the places he'd seen.

 

Elissa Berwick, 19, a sophomore student majoring in physics, asked most of the questions, and was impressed by the farmers' emphasis on their children's education.

 

"They spend all their incomes on their children's education, which is a beautiful action," she said.

 

Having noticed the big TV in the living room, Berwick asked what programs they watched. "With the cable TV, we can watch 51 channels," Li replied. "Usually we watch the programs that teach us agricultural knowledge."

 

"I don't have cable TV at home," Berwick murmured. "Certainly the village is not a poor village in China. Farmers are quite profitable from planting apple trees and selling them to wholesalers.

 

"But it is crucial for us not only go to fancy places in big cities and to meet fancy people who speak perfect English," she said.

 

 

Yale students visit a primary school in a village near Xi'an.

 

Berwick said China had been stereotyped in the US as a poor nation or a dragon of rising power.

 

"But in many ways, China is just like America and people are very friendly," she said. "I am going to come back to the country in the future."

 

Yale's vice-president Bruce Alexander said the rural trip exposed the students to another side of China.

 

"It is important because we know there are two China -- urban China and rural China -- both have opportunities and challenges," Alexander said. "To see the improvement in the village makes students understand that economic development in China needs to be framed with rural areas as well."

 

Yale's assistant secretary Fawn Wang said: "Seeing is believing."

 

"Students had met the decision makers and the ordinary people in China. The experience will leave a good memory of the country through their lives," Wang said.

 

Erica Smith said she hoped to return in the near future, and find work in either Beijing or Shanghai.

 

"The past several days showed us what China is: massive and fast-developing," the Chinese major said.

 

"Every student has been so impressed and so overwhelming by how honest and generous Chinese people are."

 

(China Daily June 7, 2007)