On August 3, 2017 Project Pengyou invited four APSA (Americans Promoting Study Abroad) Rainbow Bridge Exchange scholars to the courtyard for a non-profit campaign consultancy workshop. Project Pengyou introduced its annual national campaign, Pengyou Day, which is held during State Department’s International Education Week to celebrate US-China friendship, education, and exchange across campuses and communities in the U.S. It is largely driven through online activity through social media, as well as events on university campuses with Project Pengyou Chapters.

We challenged the scholars to contribute to bridging the cultural misperceptions between China and the U.S. in their own communities, and worked on brainstorming a campaign to improve the impact and reach of our national Pengyou Day campaign.

The two groups came up with innovative campaign ideas and presented them to the audience.

The first group wanted to host an all-day Chinese Culture Event for the youth in the community, providing authentic Chinese food, snacks, and games. They emphasized the importance of bringing native Chinese speakers to the event to ensure authenticity, and to help educate the community on Chinese culture. The group also came up with a creative marketing and fundraising scheme using social media and engaging with the community.

The second group focused on an event that would target xenophobia in the US, and working on understanding China to erase negative perceptions the community may have. The event will be hosted during the night with a dinner atmosphere, something that is important in Chinese culture. They want to convey how important US-China relationships are, and hope to help people become more open minded on Chinese culture. The group also wanted to partner with different organizations and clubs on campus that are already dedicated to China or Chinese culture to increase engagement.

We wrapped up the event with a short tour of the courtyard, some beverages, and an awesome group shot!

Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that designs tailored global education programs for underserved youth and provides scholarships to increase the overall diversity and number of

American youth who are studying abroad and actively developing foreign language fluency,  cross-cultural awareness and 21st-century skills.