My China Album 2026 captures the ties that bind

A shared meal, a shared language and a shared laugh on a sports court, at a scenic spot or inside a factory — sometimes that's all it takes to discover how much two peoples have in common. That idea sits at the heart of My China Album 2026, a yearlong initiative jointly presented by the Chinese embassy in the United States and China Daily, now entering its seventh consecutive year.

Across five video episodes, which tell five stories of exchanges between the two peoples, the project traces a simple but powerful theme: friendship between young people in China and the US is built not through grand gestures, but through everyday connections. "We have a lot more in common than we think," said Ilaria Luna, an exchange student from Washington attending East China Normal University. "We talk about the same TV shows, the same movies, the same songs, the same genuine passion and curiosity."

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Many young people from the US, after their trips to China and collaborations with their Chinese peers, have decided to pursue a future role in deepening mutual understanding. "Going to China really helped me have the motivation to contribute my own strength to the betterment of US-China relations," said Lily Rabb, an alumna of the Intercultural Montessori Language School in Illinois.