"The most impressive thing for me was taking the high-speed train and seeing the economic and social development of the mainland cities, which was beyond my expectations."
"This trip is also an exploration of the history of the Chinese nation."
"The mainland people are quite hospitable, and I got the feeling that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family."
Taiwan youth who have recently accompanied former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party Ma Ying-jeou on his visit to the mainland have expressed their true feelings about the experience, CCTV News app reported.
Understanding each other is the foundation of communication. However, seeing the real mainland and getting to know the real Chinese history is not easy for many young people in Taiwan.
Ma's visit to the mainland offered this opportunity to over 30 Taiwan youth who were members of the visit delegation and they were able to trace mainland history and communicate with mainland peers. Take a look at what they think about the mainland.
Seeing is believing
After visiting the The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, Sun Yu-ju said the visit made her very empathetic with this part of history, which is only discussed briefly in their textbooks, and the explanation provided by the guide brought her to tears.
Feng Hao said the visit let him know that the mainland is portrayed in a one-sided or negative way online or by the media in Taiwan and his views have been changed. He also thought the people in the mainland very nice and friendly.
Hsu Chih-yan said he was vaguely aware that the mainland is developing rapidly and this visit gave him a detailed picture. Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from others.
Friendship and communication
Speaking of friendship with mainland students, Chan Yu-hsiang said that the students in the delegation and the students from Wuhan University, one of the mainland universities they visited, set up a chat group called "No one knows more about communication than we do". He said the mainland students were all very excited to get to know their peers from Taiwan, and the students from Taiwan felt the same.
Lin Yen-liang said he was very happy that the students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait could still keep in touch via WeChat after the seminar, and he was looking forward to continuing professional exchanges after they returned to their respective schools.