“I’m going to tell my dad that I have a British friend now.”

“I’m going to make a present by myself for my friend Hunter.”

“When I grow up, I am going to visit the Big Ben and Thames River in London.”

Children from Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were excited after their communication with their British peers.

During the two-hour communication, children expressed themselves freely. Some Chinese students told the amusing stories happened in their school in the mountainous area; the others introduced their family members to their British friends and some even talked about their ideals. Moreover, their conversations also covered environmental protection, water saving, and patriotism, about which they were greatly concerned. Though the two hour passed by quickly, children’s excited facial expression and words reflected that the cross-cultural communication greatly enlarged their horizon and would benefit them in terms of their future.

The video conversation was an epitome of Plan China’s project--the Chinese and British School Link project, which was launched in Shaanxi in December 2008 and financed by Plan China who also provided technical support and training. So far, 56 schools in six counties of Shaanxi and seven schools in Ningxia, with a total of 4,000 rural students, have benefited from it. Plan China held the first Chinese and British video conference in last May of which the children’s communication was given a high appraisal by the British ambassador to China, William Ehrman, who also attended the video conference.

Children are an essential part of social development and revolution, whose problem-solving ability and views on different issues, however, tend to be neglected by adults. Besides, some adults also lack of the awareness of promoting their understanding of different cultures. To increase the mutual understanding of the global children, realize their rights and fulfill their responsibilities as world citizens, this kind of activities were held for them to improve their abilities and their situations, which is also the goal that the Plan China’s School Linking project pursues.