This year’s Tianjin Exchange Programme for Macao University Students saw its inauguration at IFTM on 6 June 2023.
Seeing its seventh edition and the first edition after the resumption of normal travel this year, this edition of the programme has remarkable meaning – celebrating the reunion of students from both Macao and Tianjin. This year’s excursion sees 27 students from five Macao higher education institutions participating.
The programme has first been initiated by Vice Chairman Edmund Ho of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), in the hopes of cultivating patriotic sentiments in Macao students and allowing them to personally witness and experience the latest development of the Motherland.
Following the 15-day excursion, students are expected to obtain an in-depth understanding of Tianjin’s efforts in conserving its cultural heritage, the innovative side of its east-meets-west culture, tourism planning and development, and achievements in aeronautics.
Students will visit some of the most renowned locations or experiences in Tianjin, such as Airbus’s first commercial airliner assembly line outside of Europe and Tianjin’s famous wooden engraving hub.
For this special occasion, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese Committee of the CPPCC, an organiser of the programme, sent a letter of congratulations, in which it describes the programme as a specific measure to implement good work on youths in Hong Kong and Macao as instructed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.
Chairman Wang Changsong of the Tianjin Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference, another organising entity, underlined in his speech that Tianjin and Macao are both coastal open cities highlighting east-meets-west, “respectively shouldering the historic mission of actualising the major national strategy of promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.”
Discussing the expectation on this excursion, both Brenda Fu Hei Tong, IFTM year-2 student in Tourism Business Management, and Kelly Ng Hoi Lei, University of Macau year-2 student in Accounting, are highly anticipatory.
Both of them hope that this excursion will not only offer them literacy on Tianjin’s cultural and educational background and cooperative skills but also broaden their horizons and network. Brenda even noted that the excursion will be a good chance to test her own interlingual and intercultural skills.
The two students are also expectant on encountering Tianjin’s achievements in aeronautics, with Brenda curious about seeing the Airbus plant and Kelly in all kinds of museums and the theme park showcasing aircraft carrier technologies. Brenda also hopes to understand more about the latest trend in aeronautic technologies and development.
Besides network expansion, the two students find the programme convincing in getting students familiar with regional and national development. Students will also be able to polish their international perspectives, besides cultivating interpersonal, intercultural, and independent thinking skills.
Speaking after the inauguration ceremony, IFTM President and CPPCC member Dr. Fanny Vong highlighted that the excursion is a good chance for students to better understand the country. “The best way to nurture patriotic sentiment is to allow students to see national achievements personally,” Dr. Vong pointed out, adding that this excursion and also many other events hosted by different entities will certainly help students better cultivate patriotism.
Underlining IFTM’s role in regional research facilitation, Dr. Vong pledged that IFTM will continue doing more in regional and national cooperation. “It is vigorous in bridging Macao with neighbouring regions to enhance tourism education,” Dr. Vong said.
Meanwhile, Dean Xu Hong, Chief of Nankai University’s College of Tourism and Service Management, highlighted the progress Tianjin city, the university, and the college have undergone in the past three years.
Dean Xu pointed out that the overall environment had improved significantly, with the college assigned with its own building at the new Jinnan Campus, students on this excursion would definitely experience a refreshed side of Tianjin.
Upgraded facilities at the university will also bring about seamless commuting to students between accommodation and activities, subsequently saving time for learning, the academic further highlighted.
Other organising entities of the programme include the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Macao Foundation. It is co-organised by IFTM and the College of Tourism and Service Management of Nankai University, Tianjin.
Local University Students Reunite with Nankai University Counterparts for Exchange in Tianjin
中文摘要 / Summary in Chinese
