Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

On July 10, 50 Chinese and Korean youth from the Yunnan Branch of the 2026 Sunshine Youth Development Action entered Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, to embark on an exchange trip combining intangible cultural heritage experiences with ecological practices.

Yuxi Normal University onIn 2005, the "Mekong Subregion University Academic Alliance" was launched and established. Multiple universities from China, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and other countries responded to participate. In 2006, the Mekong Subregion Ethnic and Folk Culture Learning Center was built to promote the sharing of regional ethnic cultural resources through academic cooperation, transform local ethnic cultures into university courses, and build a platform for cultural mutual learning within the basin.

On the morning of that day, young Chinese and Korean participants jointly visited specialty laboratories featuring rare woodblock prints, ethnic embroidery, pottery, wood carving, bronze casting, and wax-resist dyeing. At the woodblock print experience table, the young participants held knives to carve blocks and dipped them in ink to make rubbings, observing each other. Through the collision of fingertip skills, they exchanged ideas on the commonalities and differences of Eastern aesthetics. Li Yu, a young Chinese participant, introduced that this was her first time making a woodblock print. Although there were occasional language barriers, artistic expression broke down communication barriers, allowing cross-cultural exchange to reach the heart. In her view, the transmission of intangible cultural heritage can leverage internet platforms and be innovatively transformed by integrating popular culture to attract more young people to pay attention to traditional skills.

The image shows Chinese and Korean youth experiencing woodblock printing. Xu Yufeng Capture

Jeon Se-eun, a master's student in Korean Medieval History at Korea University, offers a comparative observation on traditional Korean and Chinese woodblock prints. She introduces that traditional Korean single-sheet prints are largely born out of the need to interpret religious doctrines, serving both the function of religious dissemination and the expression of social identity; whereas Chinese woodblock prints lean more towards aesthetic appreciation and technical study, featuring exquisite lines and elegant connotations, which she finds both novel and admirable. After the exchange, both sides expressed that only through in-depth dialogue can the differences be clarified and the cultural roots of each other be understood.

In the afternoon, a group of young people arrived at Nie'er Square in Yuxi. This square, originally built inThe 2005 square, viewed from above, takes the shape of a giant violin. The bronze statue of Nie Er playing the violin, standing on the mountaintop, symbolizes the use of musical notes as a weapon for national struggle. During the "China-ASEAN Youth Forum on Lake Fuxian" in 2006, the attending guests planted the "China-ASEAN Youth Friendship Memorial Forest" in the square. In 2016, Laos' then Deputy Prime Minister Son Saiphan also planted a frangipani here; every blade of grass and tree bears witness to the footsteps of cross-border exchanges.

At the tree-planting site that day, Chinese and Korean youth wielded shovels to dig the soil, supported the seedlings, and watered them, working together to plant new saplings and add fresh greenery to this friendship forest."Photos can only capture a moment, but tree seedlings will grow and branch out with the passing of time, just like the friendship between Chinese and Korean youth, which will deepen as we grow together." Chinese youth Zhang Dongkai stated that this tree-planting activity is also a practical action for young people to practice the concept of green development. He looks forward to revisiting this place in the future to witness the seedlings growing into a forest and the friendship remaining evergreen.

South Korean youth Baek Seo-hyun, who experienced tree planting for the first time, said that although the labor was harder than expected, the sense of accomplishment from contributing to environmental protection with his own hands was very real.

The picture shows Chinese and Korean youth planting trees together. Xu Yufeng Capture

Cai Yuxi, a student majoring in Korean Medicine at Daegu Haany University, interprets the connection between ecology and health from a professional perspective. She stated that the natural environment is the foundation of human survival and health, and protecting the ecosystem is protecting life itself. Although the languages and cultures of youth in different countries vary, protecting the Earth is a shared aspiration. In her view, the global ecosystem is deeply interconnected; the trees planted in Yunnan today will ultimately transcend national borders and benefit a wider region in terms of their ecological value.

From the exchange of skills in intangible cultural heritage workshops to planting trees together on the banks of Mount Qing, this trip to Yuxi allowed Chinese and Korean youth to deepen their understanding through mutual learning and forge a consensus through shared experiences, thereby continuing to write the chapter of China-Korea people-to-people friendship with the power of youth.

This event is hosted by the Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Foreign Friendship and co-organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Yuxi Municipal People's Government.