At the invitation of China’s Ministry of Education, a group of college students from Belarus arrived in Beijing on July 20 to start their 10-day summer camp.

The activity was initiated in 2015, when Chinese Prisident Xi Jinping made a state visit to Belarus, inviting 100 college students to China for the camp in 2016.

Led by Vladimir Shavrov, head of the Department of International Cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the delegation is comprised of over 100 college students from 26 universities in Belarus, including the Belarusian State University, the Belarus State Economic University, and the Belarusian State Technological University.

The students will visit five cities in China including Beijing, Kaifeng, Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, and Nanjing, the latter four of which served as ancient Chinese capitals and are full of historical attractions.

Three of their destinations—Kaifeng, Dengfeng and Zhengzhou—are in central China’s Henan province, the birthplace of Chinese civilization, and have over 3,000 years of recorded history. Numerous heritage sites have been left behind, such as ruins of the Shang Dynasty capital city Yin and the Shaolin Temple.

The camp will also bring Belarus students to top universities in China and will offer an opportunity for cultural exchange with their Chinese counterparts.

Hao Ping, China’s vice-minister of education, said the summer camp serves as a cultural bridge for the young people and will “inject vigor and vitality into this friendship between the two countries for generations” when attending the welcoming ceremony.