Sean Stein, Consul General of the United States in Shanghai, visited Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province on April 19.
Stein held in-depth discussions with Kong Xiangkai, the first grandson of the 75th generation of Confucius, on Confucius' educational concept and the development of the Temple of Southern Confucianism during his visit to the temple.
At the Memorial Hall to the Doolittle Raid, he learned in detail about the Doolittle Raid and its relation with Quzhou.
The attack, also known as the Tokyo Raid, refers to the aerial operation by the US over Tokyo on April 18, 1942, the first such activity to strike the Japanese home islands.
However, after the mission was completed, most of the planes either performed forced landings or crashed in China's Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian and Anhui provinces as they ran out of fuel before reaching the recovery airfield in Quzhou.
Chinese, including Quzhou natives, helped the US airmen, with full sincerity.
The Consul General said that he was very grateful for what Quzhou natives had done to save the flight crewmembers.
During his brief stay in Quzhou, Stein was deeply impressed by the city's profound history, pleasant ecological environment and favorable business climate, expecting that both sides will further strengthen their exchanges in culture, education, tourism and sports in the future.