From September 25 to 27, a group of international students from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative at Beijing Normal University visited Ordos City in Inner Mongolia for an exchange program. This event was part of the "Experience China" series organized by the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation. Through field visits and cultural immersion, the students gained an in-depth appreciation of Ordos’s achievements in ecological restoration and new-energy development.

On the morning of September 26, the students arrived at the Dalate Banner photovoltaic base to see first-hand how the banner is combating desertification and integrating wind–solar power generation. They witnessed the seamless blend of green energy and ecological governance. The “PV Great Wall” project uses an elevated model—generating electricity on the panels while cultivating crops between them—turning the tide from “sand advances, people retreat” to “green advances, sand retreats” and sounding a contemporary clarion call for China’s twin wisdom in renewable energy and desert control. From the sightseeing tower, the students gazed down on the breathtaking mosaic of golden dunes, sapphire panels, and verdant oases stretching across the Kubuqi Desert.

On the afternoon of September 26, the students traveled to the Yinken Tal desert-restoration zone in Dalate Banner. There they learned how decades of ecological work have turned drifting dunes into stable soil and how this environmental success has seeded a thriving cultural-tourism economy—living proof of the maxim “lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of gold and silver.” Mounted on camels, they moved between fresh green oases and golden sands, feeling as if they had slipped back a thousand years to retrace the convergence of Silk-Road civilizations and to sense the historic pulse of today’s Belt and Road.

On the morning of September 27, the students joined the “Feeling Ordos” Mid-Autumn cultural exchange in Dong Sheng District. Together with local pupils and neighbourhood residents they watched masterful morin khuur performances, hand-shaped traditional moon-cakes and lanterns, and vied to solve riddles dangling from scarlet streamers. Between activities they chatted with teachers and students from Ordos Eco-environment Vocational College, bonds deepening over shared laughter. Afterwards, on the nearby square, street-dance team members taught them the basic steps of a Mongolian dance. Immersed in these living traditions, the international students left with a fuller understanding—and a new-found affection—of Chinese culture.

Beneath the same bright moon that once shone on the Silk Road, we gathered in warmth; across peaceful mountains and rivers, camel bells still chimed. This field-study journey opened a cross-cultural dialogue among young students from every horizon and carried China’s ecological achievements and time-honoured traditions into new hearts. Through site visits and hands-on experiences, our international scholars not only learned advanced practices in green energy and landscape restoration, but also deepened their appreciation—and affection—for outstanding elements of Chinese civilisation. The Office of International Exchange and Cooperation will continue the “Experience China” series, creating ever more opportunities for international students to see, touch and understand the country as it is today.