A study tour under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project opens in China National Museum of Women and Children in Beijing on August 5. [CCTF]

The China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) jointly sponsored a study tour for 20 Spring Bud girls from Fuyuan Country of Qujing and Dongchuan District of Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project in Beijing from August 5 to 10.

Collage photo shows attendees at the opening ceremony of the study tour under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project. [CCTF]

The opening ceremony of the study tour was held at China National Museum of Women and Children on August 5. It was attended by Zhang Yanhong, Secretary-General of the CCTF, Liu Hao, Director of the CASIC Industrial Development, Zhu Dongyun, Deputy Secretary-General of the CCTF, Cui Chunman, Vice-President of the CASIC Second Academy, and Li Shuchun, Vice-President of the CASIC Third Academy.

In her speech at the ceremony, Zhang called on the Spring Bud girls to cherish the study tour opportunity, set up lofty ideals of further bolstering China's sci-tech strength with personal efforts, study science and technologies, and become useful persons for their hometown, the society and the country.

Liu hoped that attendees will bring back home what they learn in the study tour, share personal experience and feeling with their teachers and classmates at home, inspire enthusiam for sciences and innovation among classmates, plant the seed of aerospace in the hearts, and further promote the social influence of the project.

After the opening ceremony, attending officials joined the Spring Bud girls to visit an exhibition on the remarkable achievements made by the country in promoting women's and children's cause.

The study tour was the first activity of the 2023 Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project. It organized attendees to visit the CASIC, watch major national sci-tech projects and research sites, hold interactions with Chinese aerospace scientists, appreciate the fast development and glorious journey of domestic aerospace industry, and build a partnership of assistance with outstanding women sci-tech workers.

Collage photo shows attendees in the study tour under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project. [CCTF]

During a visit to the CASIC Second Academy, women sci-tech workers spoke with the Spring Bud girls about the latest development in China's space technologies and encouraged them to devote themselves to aerospace research in the future.

In the CASIC Third Academy, the girls visited the Star and Aerospace Museum, obtained popular science knowledge about China's Space Day and man-made satellite, assembled solar-powered satellite models, and became attracted by the design and research of the torches for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Games, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Chengdu FISU World University Games.

Yang Baokui, a chief designer and veteran researcher in the CASIC Third Academy, spoke with the girls about aerospace knowledge, culture and spirit, called on them to learn the spirit of "Two Bombs, One Satellite" and the spirit of manned space program and have lofty ideals, and sent them signed special gifts.

The Spring Bud girls from Yunnan attend a symposium on carrying forward the spirit of manned space program in the study tour under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project. [CCTF]

At the closing ceremony of the study tour on August 10, eight women sci-tech workers from the CASIC built a partnership of assistance with the Spring Bud girls, shared their experience in the aerospace research, and encouraged the girls to have lofty dreams, study hard and prepare to devote themselves to the country.

Attendees pose for a group photo at the closing ceremony of the study tour under the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project. [CCTF]

Spring Bud girls give speeches at the closing ceremony. [CCTF]

Tong Jiajia, a Spring Bud girl from Dongchuan, said that the study tour has helped her better understand the importance of development and added that she will study harder and strive to be admitted into an ideal university.

Tong Yanyan, another Spring Bud girl from Fuyuan, said that she is deeply grateful for the tremendous assistance from the project and that it has opened a wider door for her to discover the world. She went on to say that she will study hard, endeavor to become a sci-tech worker and promote national development.

During their stay in Beijing, the Spring Bud girls paid a visit to the Great Wall, the Palace Museum, the Old Summer Palace, the Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling, National Center for the Performing Arts and Tsinghua University, where they enjoyed traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics and fostered deep affection for the country and the people.

Additionally, they also held exchanges with specially invited experts over the selection of university majors and career planning.

The Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project was jointly launched by the CCTF and the CASIC in 2022 to respond to the initiative launched by Professor Peng Liyuan, special envoy for the Spring Bud Project to promote girls' education, for the promotion and implementation of the Spring Bud Project — Dream of Future Action. 

During its implementation in Dongchuan and Fuyuan from 2023 and 2025, the Aerospace Spring Bud Dream Building project is expected to provide school girls in need with financial aid, build activity centers for them, invite them to engage in social practices in the CASIC and its affiliated enterprises, and promote their healthy and all-around development. It is anticipated that about 150,000 school girls and their families from the two regions will benefit from the project.

(Source: CCTF / Women of China)