Build Bridges Of Friendship

When we refer to cultural differences， neg-ative ideas like "conflicts" or "divides" maycome to our minds. Yet the Bei.jing WinterOlympics showed us that cultural diversity canbring a collective strength that can benefit all ofhumanity.

As the most active force in the world， theyoung generation is taking the lead in bridgingthe gap to promote global communication.

Trying a different country' s cuisines is achallenge for some people. But many interna-tional athletes in the Games chose to embracethe differences.

Malta' s snowboarder Jenise Spiteri is anexample. The 29-year- old ate a lot of Chinesesnacks in the Olympic village and said the dou-bao （red bean bun） was her favorite. Spiteripacked a few in her .jacket pocket before thewomen' s halfpipe competition. As she waitedfor her score， Spiteri took a big bite with a hugesmile on her face. After this， Chinese internetusers affectionately called her "Doubao Sister".

Meanwhile， she also shared the food onher social media accounts.

John Aquilina， Malta' s ambassador toChina， said that Chinese doubao is "great stuff"after viewing the video of Spiteri eating thebuns， and more Maltese people have come toknow the Chinese snack because of her.

The Games also saw young people helpand appreciate others， whatever their culturalbackground is.

Alexandra Pozhidaeva from Russia was aperformer in the opening ceremony. The 23-year- old said what impressed her most is thefriendliness from the Chinese people. She re-called that when she and her teammates feltcold during the rehearsal， some Chinese stu-dents from other programs gave their gloves tothem even though they didn ' t know each other.

"At that moment， I was touched and under-stood the togetherness of the Olympic spirit，"said Pozhidaeva.

The feeling was also echoed by 22-year-old student Zeng Kailai. When he worked as avolunteer for the Games， he received many em-blems as gifts from athletes to share their appre-ciation for his work.

"The differences between civilizations， re-ligions， cultures and societies should not be rea-sons for conflicts but sources for countries andpeoples to learn from each other for the com-mon good of humanity， " noted China Daily.

提到文化差異，我们可能会产生“冲突”或“分歧”等负面想法。然而，北京冬奥会向我们展示了文化多样性可以产生集体的力量，造福全人类。

作为世界上最活跃的力量，年轻一代正在带头弥合距离，促进全球交流。

对于一些人来说，品尝不同国家的菜肴是一项挑战。但许多参加北京冬奥会的外国运动员选择接受异国美食。

马耳他的单板滑雪运动员珍妮斯·斯皮泰里就是一个例子。29岁的斯皮泰里在冬奥村吃了很多中国小吃，她说豆包是她的最爱。在女子U型场地技巧比赛前，斯皮泰里在上衣口袋里装了几个豆包。等分数时，斯皮泰里脸上挂着灿烂的笑容，咬了一大口豆包。此后，中国网民亲切地称她为“豆包姐”。

同时，斯皮泰里还在自己的社交媒体账号上分享这些食物。

马耳他驻华大使约翰·阿奎利纳在观看斯皮泰里吃豆包的视频后表示，中国的豆包“很好吃”，越来越多的马耳他人因为斯皮泰里了解了中国小吃。

北京冬奥会上，还有年轻人不论文化背景地帮助、感谢他人。

来自俄罗斯的爱丽克斯是开幕式上的一名表演者。23岁的她说，她印象最深的是中国人民的友好。她回忆说，她和队友在排练时感觉很冷，一些参加其他节目表演的中国学生就给了他们手套，尽管他们彼此并不认识。

爱丽克斯说：“那一刻，我很感动，明白了奥林匹克精神里的团结精神。”

22岁的学生曾恺来也表达了同样的感受.，他作为一名志愿者在冬奥会工作时，收到了许多运动员的徽章礼物，用以表达运动员们对他志愿者工作的感谢。

《中国日报》报道指出：“文明、宗教、文化和社会之间的差异不应成为冲突的原因，而应成为国家和人民相互学习、共同造福人类的源泉。”

选自《21世纪学生英文报》