On July 10th, 2014, Project Pengyou and the Golden Bridges Foundation were honored to co-organize an event at the Great Hall of the People celebrating 35 years of US-China student and scholarly exchange. Collaborating with the China Scholarship Council, the event was held in conjunction with the fifth annual Consultation on People to People Exchange (CPE). The event brought together two hundred and fifty people from over 20 institutions involved in US-China educational exchange.

Speakers at the 35 year celebratory event included Under Secretary of State Richard Stengel and Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping. There were also alumni representatives who studied in the other country from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The Emcees of the event were Chinese media proprietor, journalist, and talk show hostess Yang Lan and Mr. John Thompson, a career diplomat who oversaw the first groups of students to study in Beijing. Throughout the event, eight speakers shared their experiences studying in the US or China, and reflected on how studying abroad and student exchange affected their lives. Some notable speakers included Frank Hawke, a member of the original Beijing 8, Robin Li, founder of Baidu, and our own Holly Chang, President of the Golden Bridges Foundation.

Golden Bridges Foundation was thrilled to have participated in and organized this event celebrating such significant exchanges. We would also like to thank the China Scholarship Council, our co-organizers, for all of their hard work.