Los Angeles seeks further partnership with Chengdu

Serving as cultural ambassadors, students will first mingle with counterparts from performing arts groups of Chengdu's sister cities around the globe and then embark on a four-day trip to Shanghai.

"This is the first time that Los Angeles high school students will perform in the International Youth Music Festival in Chengdu," said Zhang Ping, Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, a guest speaker at the ceremony. "It fosters the exchange between students from the two regions, and also, speaking from a wider perspective, it promotes mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries."

Los Angeles has been a sister city to Guangzhou for a long time, Zhang said. The Chengdu trip will lay the groundwork for the possible further ties between Los Angeles and Chengdu.

Dalton Hayse, who plays piano for the ensemble, said he is eager to represent California and the US.

"We want to represent the Californian culture and the American culture as the people to make the statement that our governments don't represent our feelings of the Chinese culture, that we are here to be the bridge between America and China," Hayse said in reference to the trade dispute between the two countries.