By Fendy Lamy

BEIJING, June 27

Ancient Chinese culture embraced a flock of American students entering a small banquet room located on the campus of Tsinghua University, from the array of urns that adorned the high shelves of the walls to the renowned painting of the Festival of China painted by the famous Chinese artist Chien Lo in honor of the Qing Dynasty.

At one table sits 19-year-old Yoyi Wang, who translates a Chinese adage written on a wall that reads, "If you don’t study hard when you are young, you’ll find it’s too late to read books when you get old." On June 27, Wang, along with a handful of other Tsinghua students, welcomed a class of journalism students from the School of Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. The one-year planned event, originally created to welcome the foreigners, became more of a cultural learning experience for Stony Brook students.

The hosting professor, Li Xiguang, a long-time journalist and executive dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, said he expected the students to bond over lunch. "Food is important in our culture when welcoming someone because you can make business and friendship at the dinner table," he said.

Surely enough, groups of students naturally and gradually made friendships. There was laughter across Wang’s table as the Tsinghua students watched the efforts of one Stony Brook student trying to pick up a piece of meat with a pair of chop sticks.

Gao Song, a 22-year-old student at Tsinghua, smiled and insisted on helping the struggling student. Meanwhile, the foreign students began to squint more and more and looked overwhelmed by the amount of food and piping hot tea placed upon the revolving tabletop server. As Tsinghua students from Wang’s table effortlessly picked up their chopsticks to try out the new dishes, 20-year-old Stony Brook student Jason Van Hoven had to think twice before indulging in some of the dishes.

"I was not used to it," Van Hoven said. "I tried to overcome it by drinking water. I tried to eat as much as I can in order to not offend them."

Some of the dishes included eel, baby bamboo, whole shrimp, mushrooms, fungus, duck, vegetable greens, cashews, and to most of the foreign students surprise, rice was the last dish to be served.

As dining progressed, conversation at Wang’s table shifted to sports and education in the U.S. The male students from both groups talked about basketball.

"I like Kobe," said Gao Song, who plays basketball. "I am not that good."

At the same time, Wang expressed her passion for U.S. education with few of the foreign students. "They treat you like individuals," she said. "You are able to develop a personality."

Wang, an industrial engineering major, has never been abroad and hopes to study at Cornell or Columbia one day.

"I would like to learn about the U.S culture and the way you accept people," she said. "The education there is not like China."

Gao Song has also never traveled abroad and expressed interest in learning about the visiting foreign students.

"I am very happy for you guys to come," he said. "We can have a cultural exchange through our minds. We can come together and learn from each other."

As for visiting the U.S., Gao Song stated with a smile on his face, "I would like to visit your campus, and taste what you eat, and use what you use – fork."

A Chinese quarantine official in Beijing checks passengers for fevers on a flight from New York. Photo by Wang Yilin.

By Michelle Trauring and Eric Scaturro

BEIJING, June 26:

As of June 1st, China confirmed 52 probable cases of swine flu, according to the World Health Organization.

Now there are 1,089 – and the country is taking noticeable precautions to protect against it.

Evidence of these past three weeks’ pandemic boost can be seen thousands of miles before travelers even arrive in the country. Incoming travelers from some countries are required to fill out health statements at customs checks at Chinese airports. When visitors land, some are subjected to swine flu checks by government staff.

On airlines traveling from the United States to China, there is an aroma of latex gloves and a consistent clicking of laser temperature testers as quarantine control officials walk up and down the aisles, testing passengers for swine flu.

China natives and foreigners alike nervously eye the uniformed guards as they make their rounds taking the passengers’ temperatures. White masks cover their mouths; their almond-shaped eyes peer through blue laboratory goggles.

American airports have not installed swine flu checkpoints, despite a confirmed 2,272 cases and 35 deaths in New York, alone, while China sits at a zero death count.