Fifty six outstanding senior high school students and four teachers from SooChow University High School, SIP No. 2 Middle School, Suzhou High School Affiliated to Xi'an-Jiaotong University and Xinghai Experimental Middle School left for Japan early this month for an eight-day education visit on the theme of "social contribution" from Dec 3 to 14.

Organized by SIP Education Bureau, the tour is part of "China-Japan Youth Exchange Plan" sponsored by Ministry of Education.

This trip is expected to offer Chinese students an opportunity to learn about Japan, set up the bridge of friendship between Chinese, Japanese and Korean students, and push forward the campaign of "China-Japan-ROK thousand schools join hands" initiated by the education ministries of the three countries.

During their stay in Japan, the delegation will visit Japan's government departments and "social contribution"-themed organizations to find out about Japan's volunteer service.

They will go to senior high schools and take part in soccer exchange with their Japanese counterparts; they will also visit Japanese families and Japan's cultural facilities. 

The host schools will join the "China-Japan-Korea thousand schools join hands" project, and carry out interschool cooperation with top Japanese and South Korean middle schools in the future. 

Altogether 250 teachers and students were chosen, after a nationwide selection process by the Ministry of Education, to form the fourth delegation this year to visit Japan.

The students and teachers attended a training course in Beijing by China's top foreign affairs experts before going on the trip.

This trip received strong support from "Study at Dushu Lake", an education brand belonging to Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District.