Toward the end of 2009， over 500 foreign students studying in Zhejiang gathered in Hangzhou， participating in “Dream Tour around Zhejiang”， a cultural program organized for foreign students in the province. The event in 2009 was the third annual operation since its inception three years ago.

The participants represented over 8，000 foreign students who are from over 100 countries and regions all over the world and are now studying in colleges and universities across Zhejiang Province.

“Dream Tour around Zhejiang” is an annual cultural program jointly sponsored by the cultural， education and publicity authorities of Zhejiang Province. It aims to promote the province’s international education undertakings and cultural dialogues with the rest of the world. It has attracted the wide attention of foreign students in Zhejiang. Photographs， paintings， videos and other works of art contributed by participating foreign students artfully and vividly express their understanding of Chinese culture， their encounter of the interesting difference between Chinese culture and their own respective cultures， and their lives on and off the campus in the province.

More than 100 foreign students from 22 colleges and universities participated in a show at Yongqian Theater on the campus of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. Items staged by these students were thrilling and great pleasure. Some colleges and universities staged Chinese items and some their own items. Dressed in the red sash around their waists and the white towel around their heads， a typical rural fashion in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province， foreign students from Wenzhou Medical College danced. A foreign team from Zhejiang Normal University performed a lion dance. Those from Ningbo University demonstrated their kongfu. Those from Shaoxing College of Liberal Arts and Science staged a drama. Mexican students showed off the charming Mexican folk customs. Students from Congo staged a show called Eternal Love.

Over 100 outstanding foreign students were designated as Excellent Foreign Students in Zhejiang for 2009， the first selection of its kind held in the province. After the celebration in Hangzhou， they took three buses and began a tour across Zhejiang.

They visited Liangzhu Museum which displays the origin of the 5，000-year-old Liangzhu Culture. The ancient culture originated in Liangzhu， now a suburb of Hangzhou， and signifies the dawning of the Chinese civilization. They visited Hemudu Culture Museum， another site of ancient Zhejiang. The visit to the two museums helped the foreign youths see the ancient roots of the culture and the people of Zhejiang.

The foreign students visited Beilun Port in Ningbo. The highly mechanized port portrays the fast modernization that is now shaping the province in eastern China.

The foreign students also visited Yuyao Middle School. The freshmen of the senior high school paired with foreign students and took them around to see the school landmarks and key facilities. The foreign students also dined in the school’s canteen with their junior hosts. The middle school students spoke English and the foreign visitors spoke Chinese and when they really ran into a language barrier， they gestured. They had a good time.

Thanks to the dynamic exchange programs between Zhejiang and the rest of the world， international education undertakings are now growing at the rate of 20% a year in Zhejiang， a province that has been playing a high-profile role in China’s modernization drive and opening up to the outside world since the late 1970s.□