A 1979 tour of China started a 40-year friendship

A group of student performers from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah traveled to China in 1979 and put on a show. One of the first tours by a Western performing arts group in the country in years, it led to regular exchanges between the school and China and has been the foundation of more than 40 years of friendship and trust.

"Those kind of exchanges … you can't stop them. The fire and the passion for exchanges between our two countries is burning, and it is moving like a wildfire. So many groups of educators, artists and students are working hard to continue these cooperative visits and opportunities for growth and new development," Randy Boothe, professor of the School of Music at BYU in Provo, Utah, told China Daily.

As director of BYU's Young Ambassadors singing group, Boothe was among the leaders of the 20 student performers on their first China tour. He still remembers his first impression and how the Young Ambassadors were well received.

After a trial performance at the National Minority Institute in Beijing, the Americans performed at the Red Tower Theater. To Boothe's surprise, the hall was full.

One of the most exciting moments during the tour was when the American group sang a popular Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) at the end of the first performance.

"The audience was so appreciative, and they started clapping along and singing … and we knew we were opening a door with the Chinese people in a way, in terms of our American music and dance, sharing some of what was happening in the United States from an artistic standpoint," Boothe said.

But there was more to that 1979 China tour.

The BYU group performed for more than 28,000 people in concert halls, factories and universities in China. In every city, huge numbers of people crowded into theaters. The show was also broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV).

A lot of people in China learned about BYU that year, and for many years it was the most widely recognized American university in China because of the shows.

"In China, you have a concept and a value of old friends. It was very clear from my first visit as we returned the very next year in 1980," Boothe said. "There were feelings that we were old friends. When we came back in 1983, that was an interesting year because there were some strains between the two governments at that time. Lots of famous tours from Chicago, New York to China were canceled. We were the only group allowed to visit China that summer because we were old friends. There was a feeling of trust."

Those friendships have been renewed repeatedly, and the shows opened many doors and helped strengthen exchanges between BYU and China. Since 1979, BYU performing groups have returned to China more than 30 times, while exchanges of various kinds have been strengthened.

Boothe was assisting with the grand opening of Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida and, through his connections, the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe was invited to perform at the event in Orlando in 1982.

After the performance, the Chinese group stopped in Utah and stayed with the Young Ambassador families for about 10 days while they performed in major theaters in Salt Lake City, and at the Marriott Center at BYU.

Stephen Jones, professor of composition in the School of Music at BYU, went with the Young Ambassadors for the first time in 2005.

What he called a "life-changing experience" led him to continue to strengthen the relationships and propose various collaborations with the China Performing Arts Agency.

Jones was among the four composers from both China and the US to put on a concert in Beijing titled "Sky Mountain Light World," a collaboration by the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the BYU Chamber Orchestra.

BYU's Chinese Flagship Program, which has a full immersion Chinese-language course, includes an overseas experience complete with regular coursework at Nanjing University to study Chinese.