Record-setting HK youth group starts Zhejiang tour

Young people from Hong Kong are divided into groups to visit the Hangzhou International Expo Center, also the main venue of the G20 summit in 2016, on the second day of the largest and youngest youth exchange program between Hong Kong and the mainland on Aug 1, 2017. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Kong sent its biggest and youngest ever youth group - about 2,000 youth with an average age of less than 26 - for a six-day exchange visit on Monday to 11 cities of Zhejiang province, which pioneers e-payment and e-commerce applications.

Rita Fan Hsu Laitai, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, called on Hong Kong youth to take the opportunity to enhance their national identity and understand the mainland, in order to develop themselves and contribute to the nation in future.

The Hong Kong deputy made the remarks with the delegation on Monday afternoon, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Lin Wu spoke at the same occasion. He said that the youth were an important force to uphold and implement “one country, two systems” and realize Hong Kong's future.

The large-scale exchange trip shows people are heeding the call by President Xi Jinping to strengthen the exchange and communication between young people from Hong Kong and the mainland, Lin said.

Li Sze-lim- chairman of the New Home Association which organized the trip and also executive chairman of Guangzhou R&F Properties - said the creative and innovative spirit of people in Zhejiang, where entrepreneurship is highly encouraged, is something Hong Kong youth can learn and benefit from.

The trip, funded by the association, is part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the return of Hong Kong to the motherland.

The tour will let young people from Hong Kong experience firsthand the innovative and creative development of the mainland. They can also discover the intangible cultural and historical heritage of the province.

Lee Hiu-ching, 17, is a high school student who had participated in two similar exchange trips before. She was surprised to find Hangzhou is so modern, with unique cultural traditions.

Lee, who asked her friends to join the trip to Zhoushan, a coastal city of the province, said if possible she would love to work in Hangzhou in the future.

The youngest ever exchange delegation, which arrived on Sunday, will be divided into groups to visit 11

cities. These include such cities as Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang and home to many creative and technology companies, Wenzhou - the mainland's famous manufacturing base, and Shaoxing- renowned for its wine industry.

On Monday, the second day of the tour, several Hong Kong youth were taken on a guided tour with their mainland counterparts to experience the cashless lifestyle that people in Hangzhou and other mainland cities enjoy.

They toured the city using mobile payments, including mobile wallets such as Alipay, to finish a bike sharing trip around West Lake - one of the most acclaimed tourist sites of the city - a bus ride and a taxi ride around the city, as well as a shopping tour.

The exchange program, which about 10,000 young people will join in the coming three years, has been popular in Hong Kong, especially among youth.

A 2,000-strong delegation of young people from Hong Kong, on the six-day exchange tour in Zhejiang province, sing the national anthem with guests and young people from the Zhejiang University before the opening of the exchange tour at the university's Zijingang campus on Aug 1. [Photo provided to China Daily]