Ji Liangguo has been obsessed with the Great Wall ever since his father told him as a child that the ancient structure, one of the few objects that can be seen from the moon, was in China, the land of his ancestors.

But China remained a distant dream to the young boy, who was born in Brazil 22 years ago. Ji can only speak broken Chinese, with a strange accent, and the only things he identifies with China are the wall, the giant panda, kung fu and the last emperor. Until this week.

Larking about and yelling, taking photos and laughing, Ji went up the Great Wall Thursday.

“My dream has come true. Wooh, the wall is really great.” Ji shared his excitement with over 3,000 young overseas Chinese who had signed up for an ancestor-tracing summer camp in Beijing to learn more about the culture and history of the land of their origins.

With ages ranging from eight to 23, the youngsters, who come from 41 countries and regions, are touring a number of Beijing’s most famous cultural relics, enjoying parties with their Chinese peers, tasting traditional Chinese cuisine, and doing workshops in Peking Opera, needlework and calligraphy.

Zhao Hongying, director of the China Institute of Overseas Chinese History Studies, said he hopes the summer camp will be a bridge to strengthen culture exchanges between China and the rest of the world.

“Everybody has their own cultural roots. These young kids can learn more about Chinese culture while bringing to China the culture of the country they have been brought up in. It is a give-and-take initiative,” said Zhao.

The summer camp has been held three times since 1999, and each time it has been welcomed by the overseas Chinese families who see it a good chance to introduce their children to Chinese culture and language.

Guo Dongpo, executive vice-director of the Chinese Association of Overseas Exchange who manages the program, said a more specialized program will be launched in the future to meet the demands of overseas Chinese youth with different interests.

“Camps with themes such as Chinese folk art, music, kung fu, calligraphy, Chinese drawing and painting, and language exchanges will be developed soon,” said Guo.

This is music to the ears of Cheng Desai, an 11-year-old boy from the United States. “I hope to hone my Chinese skills so that I can do business in China when I grow up.”

Cheng has been enrolled in a local Chinese-language school in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where he is learning standard Chinese, Chinese characters and tones, as well as some Chinese history and culture.

Shan Chun, a senior expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Chinese study has become a trend among overseas people of Chinese origin and even many foreigners.

“With China’s progressive integration into the world and its huge market potential, more and more people are studying Chinese to expand their job prospects,” said Shan.

(China Daily 07/27/2001)