The China Children and Teenagers' Foundation (CCTF) and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) jointly sponsored a study tour for 20 disadvantaged 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 and 10.

The study tour aimed to further implement important instructions by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, raised sci-tech literacy of the Spring Bud girls and carried forward the spirit of Chinese aerospace sector.

The opening ceremony of the study tour was held in 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 inaugural 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, understanding, love and technologies, and become useful persons for their hometown, the society and the country.

Liu hoped that attendees will bring back home what they find and learn in the study tour, share personal experience and feeling with their teachers and classmates at home, become enthusiastic for sciences and the unknown world with innovative spirit, plant the seed of aerospace in their hearts, and further promote the social influence of the Spring Bud 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 affairs.

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

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

In the CASIC Third Academy, the Spring Bud girls visited the Star & Aerospace Museum, listened to popular science knowledge about China's Space Day and man-made satellite, personally 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 Spring Bud girls about aerospace knowledge, culture and spirit, called on them to learn the spirit of "Two Bombs, One Satellite" and the manned space program and have lofty ideals, and sent them signed special gifts.

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

Tong Jiajia, a Spring Bud girl from Dongchuan, said that the study tour has helped her better understand the importance of development and of keeping technological development important 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 "Aerospace Spring Bud Dream-building" 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 also paid a visit to the Great Wall, the Royal Palace, 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 follow the call by Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, also a special envoy of the Spring Bud project for the advancement of girls' education, on the further development of the "Spring Bud Project - Dream of the Future Action" initiative. During its implementation in Dongchuan and Fuyuan from 2023 and 2025, the public welfare program is expected to provide impoverished school girls with financial aid, build activity centers for them, invite eligible girls 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 two regions will benefit from the public welfare project.