HARMONIOUS ENCOUNTER

Young musicians from the mainland and Hong Kong had a chance to compare notes this week when 32 members of the Beijing Zhanxin Primary School Wind Orchestra gave a performance at the Shanghai Alumni Primary School in Kornhill as part of a five-day exchange programme organised by the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong. The mainland group, aged eight to 12, have often played at the People's Hall in Beijing, but for many it was their first chance to perform outside the city. The mainland musicians stayed with local families in Kornhill and South Horizons in Ap Lei Chau to get a taste of home life in the SAR and make friends with local students. Each paid around $4,000 for the trip after being selected by the Ministry of Education. Hong Kong students are due to visit Beijing in the summer holidays. Eleven-year-olds Li Yue and Shi Xiaodan said SAR students were friendly and had a high standard of English and Mandarin. 'We learnt to speak some Cantonese during the home stay,' said Shi. Association supervisor Denny Yeung Sik-ho said: 'Activities of this kind targeted at students are rare in both Hong Kong and the mainland.' Participants had built up strong friendships despite the short duration of the programme, he added.