"This is unreal! The robot danced, did Tai Chi, and talked to us." "Guangzhou's tech progress is insane!" "Having Trump in China at the same time, it is a fun crossover." Nine members and coaches of Utah Tech University's pickleball team visited Guangzhou for sports and cultural-tech exchanges. On May 14, they came to the Cloud Bay Embodied intelligence Innovation Center and went completely wild playing with the humanoid robots there.

They went to the top of Canton Tower to enjoy the beautiful skyline, experienced the blend of tradition and modernity in Yongqingfang and Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, and played pickleball with students at South China Agricultural University. Dylan Raine Ciampini, a member of the Utah Tech University pickleball team, said it was a lot of fun. Since they were close in age, they quickly bonded with the SCAU students, learning from each other and exchanging skills.

Another Utah Tech pickleball team member, Mary Vera Monson, who is also visiting China for the first time, said, “We are not just here for fun, but what we really see is how strong China's innovative engineering talent is, especially in Guangzhou!" She hopes to take part in more China-U.S. exchange activities in the future and help build friendship between the two countries.

This activity is part of the Global Youth Explore Guangzhou and is a vivid example of Guangzhou's efforts to implement the initiative of "inviting 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and learning over the next five years." It aims to build new bridges for China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges and inject youthful energy.