Seeds of friendship cross mountains

Sitting face to face with her new partner from Yuhe Primary School at a friendship exchange in Datong, Shanxi province, Jipaerguli Amaiti gave her a doll with distinctive ethnic features, which she had brought all the way from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"I hope whenever my friend in Datong sees the doll, she'll think of me and remember the friend she made in faraway Xinjiang," said Jipaerguli, a student from Xieyite Primary School in Xinjiang.

Her exchange partner, 11-year-old Zhao Keyu, had prepared notebooks, a pencil case and a school-themed pendant as gifts for her.

"I chose some practical school supplies for her. I hope they'll help her with her studies," Zhao said.

The two were among students from Xieyite Primary School and Yuhe Primary School participating in one-on-one exchanges as part of a weeklong study tour that brought 24 children from Xinjiang more than 3,000 kilometers to Shanxi this summer.

The "Pomegranate Seed Family"2026 Youth Emotional Integration Summer Camp, organized by the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, opened on Aug 19 at the Taiyuan Youth Palace.

"Just like pomegranate seeds packed closely together, young people from different ethnic groups can stand together and remain close at heart," said 12-year-old student Gulizeya Tuokebayi at the opening ceremony.

For many of the children, it was their first time traveling beyond the mountainous area where they live.

The friendship exchange began with performances in an activity room, with the Xinjiang students presenting a traditional Kirgiz dance and the Datong students performing songs and Peking Opera.

Zhao said she was particularly impressed by the dance.

"It was graceful and full of energy, and the movements, especially the neck-swaying, caught my eye. If I get the chance, I'd love to learn some of the moves myself," she said.

After the performances, the children exchanged gifts from their hometowns. Some students gave hats and scarves, and many exchanged contact information and promised to stay in touch.

Xieyite Primary School is located in a pastoral border area of Artux city in Kizilsu Kirgiz autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang. Situated on the Pamir Plateau, it is 47 kilometers from China's border with Kyrgyzstan. Most of its nearly 300 students are ethnic Kirgiz, and their parents are primarily herders and border patrol officers.

The school has also forged ties with Shanxi through volunteers teaching there under the "Go West" program, which sends young people to support development in China's western regions. Many of the volunteer teachers at the school come from Shanxi.

President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from young volunteer teachers at Xieyite Primary School on May 2, 2025, praising their efforts to advance local education, promote ethnic unity and contribute to prosperity and stability in the border region.

Niu Xiaobo, a "Go West" volunteer from Shanxi who has completed a year of teaching at Xieyite Primary School, said he introduced the children to his home province during his time at the school.

"In class, I often tell them about Shanxi's history, culture, food and scenery. I wanted them to become curious about my hometown and hoped that one day they could see it for themselves," he said.

Bai Jing, another Shanxi volunteer who teaches Chinese to sixth-grade students at Xieyite Primary School, said the volunteers spent more than a month preparing for the trip, helping fulfill the children's wish to visit their teachers' hometown while giving them a chance to experience Shanxi's history and culture firsthand.

"Teaching on the Pamir Plateau has taught me that education begins with sincerity," Bai said. "When you give children your genuine care, they respond in the same way, and their openness and warmth have deeply touched me."

During the weeklong tour, the students visited World Heritage sites including the Yungang Grottoes and Pingyao Ancient City.

Aierkayimu Wulayimu, a student from Xieyite Primary School, said seeing the sites in person was very different from reading about them in textbooks.

"The carvings are incredibly detailed and bring together cultural elements from different ethnic groups. Seeing them helped me understand that Chinese culture has been shaped by many ethnic groups," she said.

After returning to Xinjiang, the students planned to share what they had learned about Shanxi's ancient architecture, natural scenery and noodle culture with relatives and friends back home.

The group also visited the Hundred Regiments Offensive Memorial Hall in Yangquan city, where teachers and students paid tribute to revolutionary martyrs, renewed their oath as Young Pioneers and reviewed the history of soldiers and civilians led by the Communist Party of China during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

Tuohetiguli Abulimiti, the teacher leading the Xieyite Primary School group, said she had noticed changes in the children during the trip.

"I saw them become more confident and outgoing. Nothing can replace meeting other children face to face, talking with them and getting to know them," Abulimiti said. "For our students from the border area, those friendships helped turn a shared sense of belonging to the Chinese nation into something they could experience firsthand."

The camp was part of a broader series of exchanges organized by the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League of China. This year, the committee has organized four summer camp groups for more than 200 young people from Xinjiang, according to Mi Xiaobing, deputy secretary of the committee.

For Jipaerguli and Zhao, however, the meaning of the exchange was captured in something much smaller: gifts carried between hometowns thousands of kilometers apart, intended to help two new friends remember each other long after the journey was over.

Jing Ziyan contributed to this story.