Friendships forged at Sino-US youth festival

Buckets of fun

Thanks to the basketball connection, Curiel-Friedman made a great Chinese pal in Han Zheng, a 26-year-old office clerk from Fuzhou and an English major graduate.

They met the day before the match, when they both went to check out the court and do some practice.

"He came in and we shot together. Of course, this is an example of 'basketball is a common language'," Curiel-Friedman said. "We practiced together. I gave him some tips, and he gave me some tips."

Han had a small cultural shock when some young American women joined the men's match, and were fiercely competitive.

"That surprised me a lot. Our Chinese teams do not have any female members. That's a cultural difference," he said.

He said the American women were "audacious, brave and self-confident" on the court.

Sports have never failed to bring people of different nations together, and baseball is no exception.

A US baseball coach was giving tips at a venue next door to the one the youngsters played at, and he attracted a large number of Chinese youth eager to improve their skills.

He delivered a number of instructions about balancing properly, keeping eyes on the ball, and how to correctly hit a baseball. His vivid descriptions of the techniques had the Chinese youngsters laughing and applauding.

During a fair at the festival, the young people from the US got the chance to have a closer look at Chinese art and culture, through local artwork such as paintings and silver ornaments.

They also got to know the young Chinese who ran the fair booths, such as Wang Lanxi and Wu Ke from Fujian Vocational College of Art.

Wang, who started studying at the college in 2022, majors in art design. Wang and Wu's booth featured graphic design products created by graduates from the college, such as cellphone accessories and postcards featuring cute Chinese lions inspired by local folk art.

"They are all our original designs," Wang said. "It would be a great pity if they were put away after the graduation exhibition. That's why we're here presenting our own brand, and putting our brainchild together."

The young US guests were interested in handmade products such as rings, she said.

When shopping at the fair booths, the foreign guests were able to pay for souvenirs using cashless methods such as WeChat and Alipay.

"Still, some had trouble making a payment because they didn't have WeChat," Wang sighed.