--- title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - For American youth, China passes vibe test description: For American youth, China passes vibe test canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/for-american-youth-china-passes-vibe-test/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-07T13:55:10.186Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T13:52:57.060Z article:section: Paid Partner Content og:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - For American youth, China passes vibe test og:description: For American youth, China passes vibe test og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/for-american-youth-china-passes-vibe-test/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd3e4d90c732f5fc/6ac64dd69a32fdc1d9ba0bec/2_For_American_youth_China_passes_vibe_test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y0.00 og:image:width: 1575 og:image:height: 886 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - For American youth, China passes vibe test twitter:description: For American youth, China passes vibe test twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd3e4d90c732f5fc/6ac64dd69a32fdc1d9ba0bec/2_For_American_youth_China_passes_vibe_test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y0.00 ---  # For American youth, China passes vibe test > Sponsored content. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=342ad8a5-e18f-4814-bf95-4777aa86d198&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=342ad8a5-e18f-4814-bf95-4777aa86d198&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1)  _Young Americans learn the Bai ethnic group’s traditional stick dance in Eryuan County, Dali, Yunnan province, on August 4.. LUO XINCAI / XINHUA_ By MINGMEI LI Romello Jones has checked off Beijing’s iconic landmarks, but he explored the city on two wheels, slipping through the capital’s winding streets like a local with his “brother.” Most first-time visitors leave China with souvenirs. Jones, a teenager from Tacoma, Washington, returned with friendships. He first traveled to China with his school in 2024\. The following year, he returned on his own. “Just explore the culture, see my friends that I met the first time I went on the trip,” he said. His look blended streetwear culture — Ray-Ban aviators, a naturally curly afro, a gold chain, and carefully shined Air Jordans — but sometimes he also wore a panda T-shirt, hinting at a young traveler deeply engaged with the country and its people. Jones visited iconic landmarks like the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall, but it was the quieter moments that stayed with him. Early one morning, he stumbled upon a group of elderly residents practicing tai chi or just stretching in a neighborhood park. “I just put myself out there and joined them,” he said. “Their lives are so different, but at the same time, so much the same.” He described China as “futuristic,” yet the country’s modern skyline never made it feel distant. Instead, it became a place he would eventually call a “second home.” Living with a friend’s family for two weeks, he no longer felt like a visitor by the end of the trip.“Just being able to live my life alongside theirs is something that’s going to stick with me forever,” he said. Today, Jones still keeps in touch with his friends in China through WeChat despite the time difference. Together they explored the city, played basketball and shared everyday moments. Jones, who can dunk, said basketball “definitely” became a universal language. “It was an amazing experience,” he said. “I could bring my culture, and they could bring theirs, and we mixed them together. We got along so well.” Stories like Jones’ reflect a broader movement of young Americans seeking deeper connections with China. In November 2023, during his trip to the APEC meeting in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited 50,000 American students to visit China on exchange programs over five years. By May 2026, China had hosted more than 50,000 young Americans for exchanges and study visits, hitting the five-year target two years ahead of schedule. During his state visit to the U.S. in late September, Xi announced that China would invite 100,000 young Americans to visit China for exchanges and study over the next five years. For 18-year-old Lily Rabb, the journey began with a love of the Chinese language. Her Chinese teacher, Ji Xiang, often told students that the best way to understand a culture was to experience it firsthand. “This trip meant a lot to me,” said Rabb, a graduate of the Intercultural Montessori Language School in Chicago who has studied Chinese for 10 years. “Before going, China was something I only knew from textbooks. But once I arrived, it became real. I could see it, hear it and feel it.” As she walked through China, using her Chinese to bargain at small neighborhood shops, Rabb found herself connecting with strangers, but it was the friendship she built with Chinese students her own age that left the deepest impression. Last Thanksgiving, Rabb’s family hosted two exchange students from Hangzhou. What began as a traditional American holiday meal — sharing turkey, pumpkin pie and stories about Thanksgiving — soon developed into a lasting friendship. The following summer, Rabb traveled to Hangzhou and stayed with the families of those same students. Immersed in their daily lives, she experienced local traditions, sampled home-cooked meals and was welcomed with warmth that left a lasting impression. “What touched me the most was how much care they showed,” Rabb said. “They made me feel like I truly belonged, like I was part of their family.” When the students returned to Chicago in July, the reunion felt different. “We sat around the table together just like before,” Rabb said. “But this time, everything felt different. We were no longer just hosts and guests. We had become real friends. Honestly, it felt more like family.” For Michael Torres, a PhD student at the University of Florida, sports became the bridge that carried his connection with China beyond a single exchange trip. Today, he regularly plays soccer with Chinese international students, and stays in touch with Chinese students across the states through a WeChat group of sports enthusiasts. Those relationships began when Torres joined a delegation from the University of Wyoming that visited the Shanghai University of Sport for an exchange program. “We went out, explored the city together, and it just made everything much better,” he said. The photos and videos he captured during his stay now take up roughly 10 gigabytes of storage on his phone. For Torres, the experience showed that connections between young people can continue long after they return home. “It’s up to us, the younger generation, to continue the connection, bettering and advocating for each other,” he said. [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. With a combined print, online and mobile readership of more than 470 million, it serves a vital role in telling the world about China, providing valuable insight into the world’s second-largest economy. 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