On March 4, at 16:00, the Sino-German Student Exchange Sharing Session, themed From the Rhine to the Yangtze: Sino-German Youth Dialogue for a Shared Future, was held as scheduled in the Roundtable Conference Room of Nanhu College. 

The event was hosted by Cao Yangyang from the Institute of International Education, with attendees including the visiting faculty and student delegation from Germany’s Baltic International College, as well as Vice President Zhang Yanxue, Deputy Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office Wu Lijun, Vice Dean of the Institute of International Education Li Weiguang, and teacher and student representatives of the college.

At the very beginning, Vice President Zhang Yanxue delivered an address. He detailed the background of the Sino-German student exchange activity, expounded on the profound significance and contemporary value of Sino-German educational exchanges and cooperation, and extended a warm welcome and sincere greetings to the delegation from Germany’s Baltic International College on behalf of Chongqing Yitong University.

The event then moved on to the study tour experience sharing segment. Li Haomin and Qin Ziheng, student representatives of the 2025 Summer Germany Study Tour Program of the Institute of International Education, shared their experiences through video and PPT presentations. Combining their personal study tour experiences in Germany, the two students vividly recounted their insights, observations, and feelings of studying abroad in a 3-5 minute talk. They not only showcased Germany’s educational features, campus culture, and humanistic customs, but also shared their growth and gains in cross-cultural communication, building a bridge of experience sharing and emotional resonance for all Chinese and German students present.

As the highlight of the event, the Sino-German student cultural exchange pushed the on-site atmosphere to a climax. All teachers and students engaged in an immersive and in-depth cross-cultural dialogue around four core themes: festival culture, food culture, clothing etiquette, and campus life. Focusing on the Spring Festival and Christmas, they explored the cultural core of the two countries’ traditional festivals from the perspectives of ritual design, emotional expression, and festival social interaction, and summarized the key cultural differences with three core keywords. Taking Chinese dumplings and German sauerkraut knuckle as cultural carriers, they exchanged ideas on ingredient symbolism, production techniques, and dining scenarios, gaining a deeper understanding of the life wisdom and emotional sustenance embedded in both food cultures. When discussing clothing etiquette, they delved into the dressing norms and cultural connotations of formal occasions in China and Germany, from Germany's "Black Tie" dress code to the oriental aesthetics represented by Chinese Zhongshan suits and cheongsams. Regarding campus life, they shared their experiences and insights on the differences between Sino-German classroom learning models, talking about the cultivation of critical thinking in German classrooms and the systematic knowledge building in Chinese classrooms, which sparked inspiring ideological collisions of educational concepts.

Following the exchange session, Vice President Zhang Yanxue and Vice Dean Li Weiguang presented commemorative gifts to the visiting faculty and students from Germany’s Baltic International College. Filled with traditional Chinese cultural characteristics and the sincere wishes of Chongqing Yitong University, the gifts not only conveyed the friendship of Chinese teachers and students but also became a vivid symbol of the lasting friendship between the two universities.

The event concluded with a group photo of all participating teachers and students, capturing the precious moment of friendly exchange between Chinese and German youth. The successful holding of the Sino-German Student Exchange Sharing Session created a face-to-face and heart-to-heart cross-cultural exchange feast for young students of the two countries, effectively deepening their mutual understanding of national culture and educational concepts. Connecting the Rhine and the Yangtze with youth dialogue and striving for a shared future through mutual learning, this activity has injected new youthful vitality into the deepening of inter-school cooperation between Chongqing Yitong University and Germany’s Baltic International College, as well as the normalization of Sino-German educational and cultural exchanges.

Published on: March 4, 2026

Source: Institute of International Education

Author: Ding Shoubo

Photography: Ding Shoubo

Editor: Chen Tingzhi

Final Review: Li Weiguang