MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

　　Since joining the faculty at Georgetown University in Washington in 2016, I have been deeply involved in academic exchanges between the United States and China at the university level. Georgetown's connection with China dates back to 1885 when the then US president Grover Cleveland appointed Georgetown alumnus Charles Denby as the US minister to China.

　　Denby once remarked, "There is no country in the world more underrated than China."

　　Over the years, Georgetown has proudly welcomed thousands of Chinese students, including Wang Yi, the current director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, who spent time as a visiting scholar at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

　　As the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the US, Georgetown draws inspiration from the legacy of the great Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci. Ricci mastered the Chinese language and became the first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601.

　　He was invited by the Wanli Emperor, who sought his services in matters such as court astronomy and calendrical science.

　　One of my favorite ways to introduce Chinese and US students to each other is by asking them how their lives are different from their grandparents'.

　　Chinese students often recount the vast changes their parents experienced during the reform and opening-up period.

　　They describe a transition from a more traditional, resource-constrained lifestyle to the modern conveniences of today. Many families had no running water and the only machines they typically had were bicycles and sewing machines.