On August 13, Gao Yanyan, member of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and chairperson of the U-Hearts Foundation of Hong Kong, led a delegation of 36 Hong Kong young people to Guizhou Communications Polytechnic University for a visit and exchange. Taking Guizhou's transport development and the achievements of its vocational education as the focus, the event built a platform for mutual learning between the young people of Guizhou and Hong Kong. It helped the Hong Kong youth experience first-hand the real picture of the motherland's development, gain an in-depth understanding of the remarkable transformation of Guizhou's transport sector, and deepen friendship while fostering a love for both the country and Hong Kong through on-site visits and exchanges.
The delegation visited a range of teaching and training venues, including the Guizhou Transportation Museum & Education Hall, the Wolongshan Training Tunnel, the Transportation Landscape Sculpture Training Base, and the Cultural Thousand-Island Art Gallery. There, they gained an immersive understanding of Guizhou's dramatic transformation from a land of "countless ravines and gullies" to one of "thousands of soaring bridges," observed the university's distinctive hands-on training scenarios up close, gained direct insight into the university's achievements in deepening its transport focus and cultivating technical and skilled talent through an integrated pathway, and truly appreciated the brilliant accomplishments of the country's leapfrog development in infrastructure construction.
After the tour, a symposium on career planning for young people was held in Conference Room 209 of the auditorium, attended by members of the delegation, staff from the United Front Work Department of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the CPC, and relevant personnel from Guizhou Communications Polytechnic University. Zhao Xiangquan, Director of the university's Admissions and Career Service Office, extended a warm welcome to the delegation. He noted that the university has been continuously deepening its vocational education reform and has innovatively established a trinity employment guidance service system comprising "employment guidance counselors, professional faculty, and enterprise mentors." In coordination with secondary vocational schools at all levels across the province, the university has also built an integrated and articulated vocational education pathway covering secondary vocational education, higher vocational education, and vocational undergraduate education, comprehensively supporting students' growth and development as well as their high-quality employment and further studies. He noted that Hong Kong enjoys advantages in international educational resources and has a mature career planning system, while Guizhou, now at a critical stage of high-quality development, has an urgent demand for talent of all kinds. He expressed the hope that this exchange would serve as an opportunity to deepen vocational education exchanges and cooperation between Guizhou and Hong Kong, achieve mutual complementarity of strengths, and jointly nurture young talent.
On behalf of the delegation, Gao Yanyan expressed sincere gratitude for the university's warm hospitality. She said that the visit was fulfilling and fruitful, and that Guizhou Communications Polytechnic University stands out for its distinctive approach to running the school, its outstanding advantages in vocational education, and its impressive achievements in talent cultivation. She pointed out that the educational resources of Hong Kong and Guizhou each have their own characteristics and strengths, and expressed the hope of establishing a regular two-way exchange and mutual visit mechanism. By joining forces in areas such as career planning and the sharing of international educational resources, the two regions can help students broaden their international horizons and accumulate diverse growth experiences, enabling the young people of Guizhou and Hong Kong to grow side by side.
During the symposium, both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on specific topics including internationalized enrollment and schooling, pathways for students' employment and further studies, and career planning for young people, in a warm and cordial atmosphere.
After the symposium, young people from both regions worked together to create pressed dried-flower artworks featuring Minnan (southern Fujian) intangible cultural heritage techniques, and carefully wrote down and preserved their reflections on the visit. The delegation then visited the pottery workshop at the university's Boya Art Gallery to experience the craft of wheel throwing, feeling the artistic charm of traditional Chinese craftsmanship through hands-on practice, which further brought them closer together.
This exchange not only deepened the Hong Kong youth's understanding of Guizhou's transport development and vocational education achievements, but also built a bridge of friendship and cooperation between the young people of Guizhou and Hong Kong, injecting fresh vitality into the coordinated development of education between the two regions.
