On July 11, the opening ceremony of 2025 Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp, hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and undertaken by the Education Bureau of Shanghai Pudong New District, was held at the Pudong Youth Activity, Shanghai. Xie Dong, the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, attended the event and awarded the flag to the participants' representatives. Zhou Yaming, Deputy Secretary-General of the Municipal Government and Director of the Municipal Education Commission, Yang Zhenfeng, Deputy Director of the Municipal Education Commission, Liu Guangyong, Deputy Director of the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, Zhang Difang, Deputy Governor of Pudong New District, Gao Guozhong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Education Work and Director of the Education Bureau of Pudong New District, and Jiang Haishan, President of the International Education Association Shanghai, attended the event.
Since 2009, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission has hosted the "Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp", which has provided an important platform for young people in Shanghai's international sister cities to communicate with each other and form friendship. This year's youth camp attracted 22 teams from 18 countries to participate.
The organizer said that Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a socialist modern international metropolis with world influence. It should promote different civilizations to learn from each other, achieve each other and grow together in the "two-way rush" by continuously expanding educational cooperation with friendly cities around the world.
As the host of the 2025 Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp, Pudong New Area welcomes participants from Shanghai sister cities to join the teenagers in Shanghai to learn about Shanghai, feel Pudong, enhance international friendship in learning, and cultivate responsibility for the future in exploration.
Ms. Qi Pu, Consul General of the Consulate General of the Republic of South Africa in Shanghai, as a representative of the consulate of relevant countries in Shanghai, hopes that young people will be tolerant and appreciate multiculturalism, make full use of the activity platform, and lay the foundation for potential cooperation of the future young generation through mutual dialogue.
Before the opening ceremony, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Market" and "AI Decoding Market" were carefully arranged on the scene. Teachers and students from Gaoqiao Primary School, Shangnan Middle School South Campus and other schools in Pudong New District concentrated on 9 intangible cultural heritage projects with Pudong characteristics, such as Gaoqiao muffin making, Sanlin embroidery, tie-dyeing, lacquer art, wood art inheritance, reed weaving, sachet making, sugar painting, paper cutting, etc. The participants experienced Chinese excellent traditions through handmade experience. Culture. Four scientific and technological interactive projects, such as "灵犀伙伴" robot interaction, "灵眸探途" robot dog display, "AI Dynamic Space" AI magic mirror experience, "谁与争锋" robot football, let participants experience interesting artificial intelligence application scenarios, touch the vein of science and technology, and feel the charm of science and technology.
At the opening ceremony of the camp, Esther Koydayah, a representative from Dunedin, New Zealand, and Ji Shuhan, a volunteer representative, spoke separately. Pudong students brought martial arts "少年强" and dance "九州华韵", and the Croatian Zagreb students performed "悠悠空竹情" and other programs, which brought the atmosphere of the scene to a climax. Finally, the opening ceremony slowly ended with the singing of "We Are The World" sung by all the participants and volunteers.
As an important platform for exchanges between international sister cities in Shanghai, the 2025 Shanghai International Sister Cities Youth Camp aims to help young people broaden their global horizons and cultivate humanistic feelings. In the camp, the participants will join in cultural experience, scientific and technological exploration, urban visits, exchange forums and other projects to gain an in-depth understanding of China's excellent traditional culture, feel the charm of science and technology, and conclude transnational friendship. I hope that all participants will reap growth and friendship in the activities, and inject youthful vitality into international friendly city exchanges.
The opening ceremony also invited officials from South Africa, Belgium, Finland, South Korea, Japan, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and other countries in Shanghai and representatives of institutions in Shanghai, as well as representatives of relevant district education bureaus, middle school principals, teachers and student volunteers.
Original: Shanghai Education
