The 18th Shanghai International Youth Interactive Friendship Camp kicks off on July 10 in Shanghai, with 112 campers from 16 countries including Chile, France, Germany, the UAE, the US, and China participating in the event. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

The 18th Shanghai International Youth Interactive Friendship Camp kicked off on Wednesday in Shanghai, with 112 campers from 16 countries including Chile, France, Germany, the UAE, the US, and China participating in the event, aiming to promote cultural exchange and friendship among young people from different countries and regions. 

Fu Jihong, vice president of the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SPAFFC) announced the opening of the camp on Wednesday afternoon. 

“In the international camp, people from different countries and regions can strengthen communication and share more insights, serving as a bridge for mutual communication. It plays a very positive role in promoting people-to-people communication,” Sheng Jie’ao, 15, one of the campers from China who gave a welcome speech at the opening ceremony, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Sheng said that they will visit iconic landmarks, taste delicious Chinese food, and stay with local families during the 10-day camp.

"We had some ice-breaking activities that brought us closer to other campers," Marko Petrov from Serbia told the Global Times. His teammate Petra Popovic from Serbia taught some phrases in Serbian to other campers, while Petrov shared some views in education and tradition with others on their first day in the camp. “The camp site itself is very clean and nice. It was very pleasant,” Petrov said.

Dorina Inges from the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Hungary started learning Chinese when she was 6 years old. This is her first visit to Shanghai. "We had a lot of fun in the camp. I'm looking forward to the Chinese culture classes," Inges told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Five campers from the UAE are all enthusiastic about Chinese culture as well. Some are interested in Chinese history, while others have a passion for Chinese cuisine, such as Peking duck and dumplings. Khadija Alkhoori and Marya Alshehhi have aspirations to pursue further studies in China. 

“My father enrolled me in Chinese classes because he believes it is a valuable language to learn,” Faris Eghdani told the Global Times on Wednesday. Eisa Khalifa and Adel Aldhanhani are learning Chinese in the UAE as well, and both of them said that they are excited about this trip in Shanghai, where they can make new friends.

After arriving at Shanghai airport on Tuesday, the campers experienced the one-stop comprehensive service center for expats to enjoy convenient services such as payment, telecommunication and transportation. 

In the following days during the event, they will continue to explore Chinese cities, taste traditional Chinese cuisine and participate in cultural activities.

The camp was first held in 2005, and is hosted by the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Shanghai Youth Federation.