By Zhejiang People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

June 4， 2008 witnessed the arrival of twenty-five student English speakers in Hangzhou. They were from various senior high schools in Hangzhou， Ningbo， Wenzhou， and Huzhou. The twenty-five were winners who had successfully gone through general auditions， written tests， and oral tests. They would attend a celebration and prize-issuing ceremony in Hangzhou before they were on their way to visit Western Australia. They were the last group to visit Western Australia for the purpose of enhancing friendship as part of a four-year exchange program jointly sponsored by Zhejiang Province and Western Australia.

The program was a result of the twin relationship set up in 1987 between Zhejiang and Western Australia and expanded in November 2004. The Zhejiang Delegation headed by Xi Jinping， then CPC Zhejiang chief and now vice Chinese president， visited Western Australia and signed the twinning agreement which has brought the province and the state closer and greatly enhanced friendship and cooperation.

As stipulated by the agreement， the best English speakers from senior high schools across Zhejiang would visit Western Australia for friendly exchange activities， starting in 2005.

In 2005， the first oral English competition for senior high school students was held in Zhejiang. More than 1，000 students from nearly 100 senior high schools participated in the competition， which was attractively and aptly entitled Visiting Western Australia. It created such a great mania among high schools across the province that there was extensive media coverage on the event. Students studied English hard and probed about Western Australia in particular in their quest for more knowledge of the outside world.

After a series of competitions， 108 finalists gathered in Hangzhou. The final was organized like a game show and televised by Zhejiang Television. The finalists were tested for English proficiency， knowledge， teamwork， and the comprehensive ability to express themselves， respond to difficult situations， and organize activities. Judges and audiences were equally impressed by these young talents.

The 2-week visit was an eye-opening experience for Chinese students. First of all， they stayed with families in Western Australia.That was designed as the best way for Chinese students to experience the local culture and life. The itinerary， well prepared and executed by the local government， included activities such as visits to colleges， high schools， vocational schools， libraries and Perth Mint. The Chinese students also attended classes with international students from Vietnam， USA， Japan and Egypt to experience how classes were conducted in Western Australia. During their stay， the students from Zhejiang experienced history， nature， society， culture， lifestyle of Western Australia while they introduced China and their home province to the people in Western Australia.

The four years witnessed all the senior high schools in the province send their students to participate in the competition. Ninety-nine students from forty-five schools were selected to visit Western Australia on behalf of the nearly 1 million student population of senior high schools in Zhejiang.

The Western Australian government and local residents， deeply impressed by the students from Zhejiang for their youthful excellences， spoke highly of the contributions made by young scholars from Zhejiang to the friendship and cooperation between the two governments and the two peoples.

The four-year program has helped maintain the enthusiasm of students in Zhejiang to learn the English language， a window to see the world， a bridge between China and the rest of the world. The oral English competitions over four years have been regarded as a successful new endeavor to enhance twin relationships between the province and its overseas counterparts. Visiting Western Australia is the biggest exchange program in the education field Zhejiang has ever seen. It has formed a foundation for more economic and business relations and people-to-people cultural exchanges.#8194;