"Wow! They are there and are flying to us," a group of children dressed in traditional ethnic costumes cheered and jumped from their seats when they saw the Sky Wing Air Demonstration Team in the sky during Changchun Air Show hosted by Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, on the morning of July 27.

Spring Bud girls from Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other provincial areas pose for a group photo during their attendance of the 2023 Changchun Air Show on July 27. [CCTF]

The young viewers are 34 children of the Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Yi and Han ethnic groups from Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other provincial areas. They are among the beneficiaries of the Spring Bud Project, which was launched by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) under the leadership of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) in 1989 to get dropout girls from poverty-stricken families back to school.

In 1995, the PLA Air Force cooperated with the CCTF to jointly implement the Blue Sky Spring Bud Project.

The PLA Air Force and the CCTF invited the 34 children to attend the 2023 Changchun Air Show in a move to help them better appreciate the country's glorious achievements in the development of air-space capabilities, expand the horizon of the Spring Bud girls, and sow the seeds of dream in their heart.

During an interview, Mairepaiti Mutalipu, a 10-year-old girl from Hotan of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that it was the first time for her to watch military aircraft and the air show. She said she looked forward to becoming a member of the PLA Air Force when she grew up. She recalled that, about two years ago, a group of the PLA Air Force soldiers visited her school and spoke with students about aerospace knowledge.

Zhang Yinglu, a Spring Bud girl from Yichuan of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, was deeply impressed with the aerial stunts done by Red Falcon Air Demonstration Team at the 2023 Changchun Air Show. When talking about her dream, she said that she was willing to try her best to help others in the future.

Wang Xuexiang, with Xinjiang Women and Children's Foundation, is a team leader of the Spring Bud girls' delegation. She said that she felt proud of the fast development of the PLA Air Force and that the visit will help the girls foster deep love and affection toward the Party, the country and the PLA.

During their stay in Changchun, the girls also paid a visit to an exhibition area and the PLA Air Force Hall, which displayed 107 paintings, with the theme of the sky and PLA Air Force, drawn by children from Beijing and Changchun.

Statistics show that the Blue Sky Spring Bud Project has helped about 35,000 girls complete their education, built 118 schools, held occupational training for 1,106 Spring Bud teachers, and organized vocational training for 3,294 teenage girls over the past 28 years.

Meanwhile, the PLA Air Force has offered over 40,000 infants nutritional improvement products and extended a helping hand to more than 1,000 children with congenital heart disease.