After their two week visit, the delegation from Hong Kong’s Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School left Friday with a better understanding and appreciation of Appalachian culture.

The whole stay has been a learning experience for the children and their parents, orchestra conductor Bartholomew Law said.

"This visit is so valuable for us," Law said. "The children learn a lot interacting with American kids."

Watching a performance of "Tecumseh!" in Chillicothe was a wonderful cultural experience because they do not have many outdoor theaters in Hong Kong, Law said.

Parents and students visited other regional attractions such as Carter Caves State Park, Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, the NYSP sports camp at OUS and a Loretta Lynn concert at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland.

"The people here impressed me the most," Stephen Chan said. "I have a dream to retire and settle here. It is quiet and peaceful."

Connie Chan said that she and her daughter Audrey, 3, had a very good time.

"All the memories we will bring back to Hong Kong and treasure them very much," she said.

This visit has been in the works for more than two years.

Dr. Eric Cunningham, associate dean at OUS, served as director of OU’s Hong Kong program from 1997 to 1999.

While developing the university’s campus there, he and Law became close friends.

Cunningham and Law planned the visit to coincide with the Academy of Excellence. The Academy is a two-week program for children in grades 4-8. Activities are offered in art, foreign languages, computers and math, among others.

For them, just adjusting to the little things in our culture is a big deal, Cunningham said.

"What we take for granted,

is very new to them -- like open space," he said.

"For them to perform outside in the green is a great experience. It has been an honor for the university to have the students and parents here at OUS."

Li Min, an assistant professor of Chinese Medicine at the Hong Kong Baptist University, said that before they came they couldn’t imagine how the visit would be, but after arriving all their doubts were put to rest.

"Once we came, everyone has been wonderful," she said. "This program should continue every summer because the cultures communicate so well."

Teenager Cherry Choi, who lived in Texas for five years, said she has had a great time returning to the United States. The most fun was being able to go horseback riding, something she enjoys but rarely gets to do, she said.

"I am sad to leave but I want to go home because I miss my parents," she said. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune