From smart port to shared future

Before visiting Rizhao Port in Shandong province, Yoosadiang Thamonwan from Thailand had imagined a typical industrial port: noisy, gritty and dominated by steel and heavy machinery.

But what she saw instead was a fully automated container terminal operating in near silence: driverless trucks moved steadily across the wharf while remote-controlled cranes loaded and unloaded containers with precision.

Yoosadiang, an economics student at Zhejiang University, was one of the young representatives, journalists and content creators who joined the 2026 China-Overseas Gen Z Dialogue and Exchange Event, held in Rizhao from May 26 to 29. Participants came from more than 10 countries, including Germany, Russia, the United States, Myanmar, Mongolia, Madagascar and South Africa.

Co-hosted by China Daily 21st Century Media and the Rizhao municipal authorities, the four-day program took participants to the city's port, coastline, sports venues, tea gardens and factories. Through these visits, they explored how Rizhao is trying to turn its maritime resources into a platform for trade, ecological restoration, cultural exchange and youth dialogue.

"May global youth share Rizhao's inspiring journey of maritime development from their own generational perspective and let cross-cultural exchanges take root and flourish along this blue coast," said Zeng Qingkai, secretary-general of China Daily, at the opening ceremony.

That ambition came into focus at Rizhao Port, where participants watched containers being lifted, transferred and sorted with little visible human intervention.

"In textbooks, I often learn terms like tariffs and supply chains. But standing here today at the port, I finally see how it connects people's daily lives with global trade," said Ye Kyaw Thu from Myanmar, an international trade student in China.

From the port, the group cycled along the Rizhao Sunshine Coast Greenway, a 28-kilometer coastal path running between beaches, pine forests and wetlands. Along the way, they saw residents collecting seafood, camping and playing beach volleyball.

It was hard to imagine that just five years ago the area had been a barren stretch of saline-alkali wasteland, scarred by gullies.

"During construction of the greenway, local builders worked with great care, following the principles of not disturbing a single pine tree, polluting the beach, damaging the reefs or disrupting the surrounding waters," said Wang Yaping, a young resident who took part in the project.

Today, Zhangbei Bay, which adjoins the greenway, maintains excellent nearshore water quality year-round. The local population of the critically endangered Chinese crested tern has grown to 46, while more than 2,000 fishing families have shifted from traditional fishing to tourism-related businesses such as guesthouses, turning the restored bay into a source of sustainable income.

The same coastline has also helped shape Rizhao's identity as a city of water sports. At the Rizhao Olympic Water Sports Town, the group tried dragon boat rowing, an activity that quickly became a lesson in coordination.

As the drumbeats quickened, participants from different cultural backgrounds gripped their oars and paddled across the lagoon. Their strokes were uneven at first, and the boat rocked from side to side. But they soon found their rhythm under the drummer's command.

"Although we come from different countries, rowing the dragon boat made us feel like family in an instant," Yoosadiang said.

Rizhao is also expanding its wider sports calendar. According to the city government, it plans to host more than 100 provincial — and national-level sporting events this year, spanning ball games, track and field, cycling, road running, water sports, and ice and snow sports. The goal, officials said, is to build a year-round sports scene that involves residents of all ages.

The cultural part of the program took participants to a local tea garden, where they walked through terraced fields and tried their hand at picking "one bud and one leaf" — the standard for high-quality green tea.

They also watched the hand-frying technique used to make Rizhao Green Tea, a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage practice, and learned how young tea artists are presenting traditional tea culture in new forms, including charcoal-stove brewing and tea-based mixed drinks.

"From picking to frying to drinking, the intangible cultural heritage of Chinese tea gardens reflects long-term cultural, ecological and social sustainability," said Veldesen Yaputra from Indonesia. He noted that it offers a model of sustainable development worth further exploration.

The group also visited one factory of Wuzheng Group, a manufacturing company. There, they watched industrial robots carry out precision welding, saw intelligent assembly lines in operation and viewed products including high-horsepower tractors.

"I truly admire how 'Made in China' can satisfy so many people," said Sophie Steinecke from Germany. "Chinese manufacturing gives many people the opportunity to buy the products they need."

By the end of the trip, Rizhao was no longer just a stop on an exchange program, but a living example of how a coastal city can connect industry, nature, culture and people across borders.