Harvard summit sparks US-China youth dialogue

Chinese and US students pose for a photo during their visit to Tencent in Shenzhen, Guangdong, on Aug 9. CHINA DAILY "It's very easy to get caught up in what you see and hear on TV, but you don't really know a place or its people until you come in, experience it for yourself, and get your feet on the ground," said Wydmayer Trente Et Un, a freshman at Harvard University studying psychology and economics, at the end of the Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China. This August, around 150 Harvard students gathered in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou to participate in the HSYLC, a 19-year-old liberal arts summer program and Harvard's largest overseas exchange initiative. "Our conversations made me realize that electronic information technology could also be applied to social science research, such as using big data for ethnic behavior analysis or even employing artificial intelligence to assist in policymaking." Addressing the audience at the summit's opening ceremony in Beijing, Shmuel Padwa, a student of statistics and philosophy who led the US staff team organizing the HSYLC, said, "I implore you to say 'hello' or 'nihao' to as many people as possible; I hope you remember what you learn in your seminars, but also the people you meet along the way."