KIEV, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Ukraine on Wednesday together launched their first summer camp that united young radiosport enthusiasts from both countries.
The ceremony to open the camp was hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, with the participation of 55 young fans from South China's Guangdong Province, who were interested in amateur radio direction finding (ARDF) -- a sport that features map-and-compass navigating and radio orienteering.
In a solemn atmosphere, the children wearing red-white shirts with dragon prints and red pioneer scarves watched the raising ceremony of the Chinese flag and sang the national anthem.
Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei told the young people that their hobby was very useful as it offered a unique chance to travel around the world and learn about different cultures.
"Traditional Chinese culture promotes the idea that travelling thousands of miles is just as important as reading thousands of books. Through travelling, people can enrich their experience, make their will stronger and find an inspiration," Du said.
After the ceremony at the embassy, the teenagers from China, mostly primary school students, will join their Ukrainian counterparts at a summer camp in Pushcha-Vodytsia, a forest resort in northern Kiev.
"The main reason why we came to Ukraine is that the direction finding sport is very well developed here. In addition, we noticed that Ukrainian children are winners of many international competitions and world championships," said Li Xidong, coach of the Chinese ARDF team.
Li said that it would be easy for Chinese and Ukrainian radio enthusiasts to understand each other as all of them can speak English.
During the first five days of the ten-day event, Chinese students will take training sessions on radio orienteering and compare notes with their Ukrainian counterparts. Then, they will participate in a Sino-Ukrainian ARDF contest.
Chen Yuelin, a 15-year-old Chinese team member, said she was glad to participate in the camp to improve her ARDF skills, gain new travel experience and discover Ukraine.
"Ukraine is a beautiful country! It seems to me that it is very comfortable, because there is a wonderful natural environment here," Chen said.
Meanwhile, her friend Xu Yi, who has previously attended similar competitions held in the United States and Bulgaria, said that such events were helping her to stay healthy and make new friends.
"It seems to me that those competitions are very interesting. I started to practice radio direction finding with an aim to lose weight. But then, I got fond of it, it helped me to find a lot of friends in China and abroad," Xu said.
