34 students of the National Taichung First Senior High School were exchange students to France this past April they were received with the warm hospitality of local teachers, students, and students’ families in France. This last October, the teachers and students of French Cannes Marlette Senior High School, nearly 40 persons in all, visited the Taichung Hall and were welcomed warmly by the vice-mayor, Jia-qi Xiao.

These students, who came from France, are second and third-year students and they study Chinese in school. When the students of Taichung First Senior High School visited France, they were received with the hospitality of these French students’ families. This time the French students visited Taichung City for two weeks, and declared it quite refreshing and interesting. Julie, one of the French students, was able to speak simple Chinese and said that Taichung was quite beautiful, and there are many interesting sights to see. The deepest impression for Julie was that the people of Taichung were so nice and they offered such warm hospitality.

The vice-mayor, Mr. Xiao gave a speech, in which he stated that he has been to France while he was studying in Britain, he expressed his regret that he had only visited Paris. However, he said, France is a beautiful country, which holds history and culture in high esteem, the same way Taichung City does, gaining it the nickname of “the cultural city”. Mr. Xiao said that he knew they had been to an “army and people’s associated party,” held in Yuan-man square on the 26th and welcome them to join the classical concert of old songs in Yuan-man square this Saturday (Nov. 3rd).

The parents’ association chief of Taichung First Senior High School, Zhu-en Su said that their school was the first school to exchange students with France and when they visited France this past April, they received lavish hospitality, which allowed the students to have a fun filled French experience. He expressed his wish that these French students would take back exciting memories of visiting Taichung City.

The French teachers and students arrived in Taichung on the 22nd and left Taiwan on Nov. 4th, to return to France. During these two weeks, they accompanied local students to physics, flower art, music courses, and learned traditional Chinese martial arts, as well as how to cook Chinese dishes. In addition, they enjoyed a visit to the Tunghai University, the Technical Museum, the Art Museum, and the Education Center of the 921 earthquake.