During the recent National People's Congress sessions, Chen Yingxuan, a Taiwanese youth who has been based in Beijing for over a decade and works as a teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy Grading Institute, was busy with dance instruction and training for the new semester. The content of the government work report concerning youth development, as well as the development of cultural programs and industries, was among the information she paid closest attention to during this period. In Chen's view, the policy signals released during the sessions not only inject momentum into the development of private arts education but also create a broader platform for cultural and artistic exchanges across the Strait.
Chen's deep connection with the Chinese mainland was planted early in her childhood. Having started learning dance at the age of three, she encountered a dance teacher in the second grade of elementary school who had graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy. "My teacher would share stories about Beijing's heavy snowfall with me. In Taiwan, we rarely get to see snow every year, and I thought it was fantastic—if I were in Beijing, I could see snow annually," she recalled. Driven by this childhood longing, Chen made a special trip to Beijing in the winter of 2014 to visit the Beijing Dance Academy, which she had long admired. Soon after, she was formally admitted to the academy, embarking on a journey of over ten years of deep engagement in the mainland. She progressed from a curious student to a young teacher now standing at the podium of the Beijing Dance Academy.
Over her more than ten years living in the mainland, the ever-present kindness and warmth around her have given Chen a strong sense of belonging. "It's the people around me who have given me abundant love," she said. This daily warmth has allowed Chen to genuinely feel the emotional connection between the two sides of the Strait. "My family genealogy records that my ancestors moved from Fujian to Taiwan. We share the same roots and origins; we are originally one family," Chen added with a smile.
The various supports and conveniences provided by the mainland for the development of Taiwanese youth have also made her feel more secure in putting down roots here. Chen mentioned that many localities on the mainland offer policy support such as subsidies and benefits for Taiwanese compatriots seeking development. These practical measures have helped cultural exchanges across the Strait proceed more steadily and go further. Moreover, the development of dance art on the mainland over the years has left a deep impression on her. "In recent years, the mainland's dance works have been excellent. Many dance performances during the Spring Festival Gala have become hot topics among my Taiwanese classmates," Chen noted. The rapid growth of the mainland's cultural industry has allowed more Taiwanese art practitioners to see vast opportunities and truly feel the vibrant energy of arts education on the mainland.
"Dance can quickly shorten the distance between people, enhancing understanding and recognition," Chen said, discussing the topic of integrated cross-strait development, which was a hot topic during this year's NPC sessions. As a Taiwanese youth long engaged in the cultural and arts field, Chen firmly believes that "dance and art can certainly serve as a bridge for cross-strait exchanges." She views every artistic collaboration as a dialogue between hearts, infusing fresh vitality into cross-strait integration. Speaking about her future plans, she expressed a hope to build a platform for exchanges between artistic talents across the Strait, such as creating cross-strait youth dance workshops and organizing residency programs for artists. These initiatives would enable young people and dancers from both sides to interact through shared creative processes, allowing art to become a bond that narrows the emotional distance between compatriots.
For Taiwanese youth with artistic dreams who wish to develop their careers on the mainland, Chen also shared her insights: "The stage on the mainland is vast enough and inclusive enough to give us opportunities for continuous growth." As cross-strait exchanges continue to deepen today, more and more Taiwanese youth like Chen Yingxuan are crossing the strait to put down roots and grow on the mainland. They are using the power of youth to build bridges of mutual understanding, making the story of "cross-strait kinship" increasingly vivid and dynamic.
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