Hathaway Brown senior Brittany Davis and junior Michele Zhou were members of a select group of American students who had the opportunity to travel to Beijing this summer as part of a prestigious cultural-exchange initiative organized by the Ameson Chinese Elite Program. Read on for a press release from the ACE that explains the unique aspects of the girls' trip.
BEIJING—July 23- August 3, 2012. A group of 23 students from American high schools participated in a week of cultural exchange activities with nearly 250 Chinese students followed by several days of excursions to local sites of interest.
The American students, among whom 13 are recipients of the prestigious Presidential Scholars Award, were chosen from a pool of applicants recommended by their schools. The Chinese students were selected for their stellar academic achievement and global vision from top high schools throughout China.
The Ameson Chinese Elite Program (ACE), the week-long event that brought these students together, featured lectures from former Stanford Dean Deborah Stipek and Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wang Guangqian; Sino-U.S. student discussions on universal education; Chinese culture and language classes; speech, photography and filmmaking competitions; and student-organized programs such as a talent show and sports competitions. The main activity of the week was the first-ever Model-CPPCC, a simulation similar to Model U.N. activities.
In this week-long activity, students experienced first-hand the process of one of China’s non-party-controlled state apparatuses, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC). The CPPCC identifies issues of concern to the public, and through in-depth research, develops policy suggestions which it submits to bodies with more authority at all levels of government.
After an opening speech introducing the history and function of the CPPCC by General Secretary of the China Zhigong Party Central Committee and National CPPCC member Qiu Guoyi, the Model CPPCC activity saw students divided into ten teams, each of which chose a student-proposed topic, conducted research and produced its own proposal. The teams were then set against each other in a series of elimination rounds, until class 7 with a proposal on better recycling management through waste classification was selected as the winner. Class 7’s proposal was submitted to the National CPPCC and National People’s Congress for consideration.
After ACE concluded, the students embarked on several days of sight-seeing, which included a trip to the Great Wall, a night watching acrobatics and Chinese wushu, and a walking tour of Beijing’s hutongs.