In November of 2023, President Xi Jinping spoke on his visit to the US about China wanting to welcome 50,000 US students to China over the next five years for exchange and study abroad programs. Muscatine resident and friend of President Jinping, Sarah Lande, wrote a letter to the President expressing Muscatine’s interest in participating in these programs. On January 13th, President Xi Jinping wrote back, inviting Muscatine students and teachers to China for the first exchange. Over the next few days, in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, We were able to arrange transportation and accommodations for 24 students and four educators. The trip is fully funded by the Chinese government, and our students are there as guests of China’s Minister of Education, Huai Jinpeng. Students left on a charter bus this morning at 8:45. They will fly out of Chicago this afternoon and land in Beijing on Wednesday morning. During their trip, students will get to visit Pandas at the Beijing Zoo, visit the Great Wall, visit the Palace Museum, and visit a school in Shijiazhuang City. They will also then fly to Shanghai and participate in a Chinese American youth event and visit Fudan University and the Shanghai Tower. They will have the opportunity to visit the Yu Garden and Shanghai Museum and visit Shanghai Tesla. Throughout the trip, they will be participating in several youth events with students from China. They will return to the US on January 30th.
