The closing ceremony of the 2019 Young Overseas Chinese Root-seeking Summer Camp [Photo/sh.chinanews.com]

The closing ceremony of the 2019 Young Overseas Chinese Root-seeking Summer Camp (Shanghai Camp) was held in Xinzhuang Middle School on Tuesday.

Started in 1999, the root-seeking summer camp invites overseas Chinese teenagers to visit different parts of China every year to enhance their understanding of their homeland and Chinese culture.

So far, 13,600 people have signed up overseas, and 271 summer camps have been organized. The “Shanghai camp” has attracted Chinese teenagers from eight countries to carry out activities in eight camps across the city.

Since this year, the activity has been undertaken by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.

Qi Quansheng, vice president of the federation, expressed his hope at the closing ceremony that the students would take root in the consciousness of being a member of the Chinese nation, and keep on inheriting the Chinese culture and being a bridge of cooperation and exchange between China and foreign countries.

The 10-day summer camp was short but unforgettable for the campers. “We learned more about Chinese culture in this summer camp, whether through the learning process of calligraphy, martial arts and Chinese painting or through talking to local people,” said Li Hanya, a 15-year-old student from the International Han Institute of Germany.

Xiang Houlin, a camper who comes from the Huayin Chinese school in Germany, was quite excited and happy. This was his first time to participate in the root-seeking summer camp. He hopes to share what he has learned in this summer camp with his classmates in Germany. “I would like to introduce more students like me to join in the root-seeking journey! We should carry forward the Chinese culture to make the world have a better understanding of China and make us be proud of being a Chinese!”

“We had a full and interesting life every day in the summer camp. Through this camp activity, I not only feel the charm of the traditional Chinese culture, but also see the rapid development of the modern economy in China,” shared Liang Xuan, the leading teacher of International Han Institute of Germany.