For Bai, the most valuable lesson Sakolsky brought was the importance of seeing each child as an individual, recognizing differences between cultures and learning to understand, accept and respect those differences.

　　"That is the foundation for different civilizations to live together," he said.

　　Sakolsky also echoed the idea during his conversation with students and teachers.

　　Bridges between people, and between countries, cannot be built with words alone, he said. They require action. And sustained exchanges between teachers and students are among the most important ways to build them, he said.

　　"Rather than focusing on how different we are, we should first look at what we have in common," he said. "Students everywhere want to be understood and respected. And whether in China or the US, teachers love their students."

　　Fu Bo, standing council member of the CEAIE, who accompanied Sakolsky throughout his visit, told the Global Times that decades of educational exchange between China and other countries had never been a one-way process. "It had been a genuine exchange in both directions," Fu said.

　　From the late 1990s teacher exchange programs that brought Sakolsky to China to China"s initiative of inviting 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years, exchange forms have evolved from traditional pen pal letters and teacher visits to online seminars and cross-border summer camps.

　　In May, Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative was reached two and a half years ahead of schedule.

　　"Just as our seedlings became a 50,000-tree forest," Sakolsky commented. He hoped that the number of students benefiting from such exchanges would eventually grow from 50,000 to 100,000, 200,000 and beyond.