This photo taken on Aug. 29, 2025 shows the "Experience China -- A Symphony of Stories about China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship" event held in New York, the United States. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- A recently-held cultural event at the Chinese Embassy in the United States offered an opportunity to revisit the deep friendship forged between the Chinese and American people during the World Anti-Fascist War.

Themed "Experience China -- A Symphony of Stories about China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship," the event was presented on Wednesday night through the innovative form of "symphony & immersive storytelling." It began with a performance of "Lament of the Yellow River" from The Yellow River Cantata by the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra.

Enhanced by the music, the event combined historical reenactments, accounts from descendants of eyewitnesses, and displays of important evidence items to vividly bring to life stories of the China-U.S. wartime friendship.

An expert from the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders appeared on stage alongside Chris Magee, grandson of John Magee, an American missionary who covertly recorded footage documenting the Nanjing Massacre. They presented "a dialogue through lenses of two generations" to highlight justice and peace captured on film.

Cui Shutian, translator of "Chinese Escapade" -- a memoir recounting experiences at the Weixian Internment Camp in east China's Shandong Province -- shared stories of mutual aid between foreign residents and Chinese civilians.

Storytellers from Quzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province and the United States together reflected on the dramatic 1942 Doolittle Raid rescue, using the one-cent coin given by navigator Charles Ozark to Chinese villager Liao Shiyuan as a token of gratitude for saving his life as a narrative thread.

Recalling the history of Chinese and American people fighting side by side against fascism for peace and justice, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng called on all to pay tribute to history, and remember the vital contributions made on the main Eastern battlefield; to pay tribute to friendship, and cherish the inseparable bond formed between the two peoples in the flames of war; to pay tribute to the future, and build more momentum for people-to-people exchanges.

The Chinese ambassador noted that the China-U.S. relationship is full of stories of people-to-people friendship.

"We need to bring our people closer, encourage and facilitate travels and people-to-people exchanges, and promote win-win cooperation, rather than sow fear and hostility, erect barriers, seek decoupling and turn back the wheel of history," Xie said.

"We need to support our people in translating their aspiration for a better life into joint action, writing new stories of friendship and cooperation in the new era, and jointly creating a brighter future of peace," he further said.

A similar event was also held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York on Friday. ■

Guests visit an exhibition during the "Experience China -- A Symphony of Stories about China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship" event in New York, the United States, Aug. 29, 2025. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua)

Chris Magee, grandson of John Magee, an American missionary who covertly recorded footage documenting the Nanjing Massacre, tells story during the "Experience China -- A Symphony of Stories about China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship" event in New York, the United States, Aug. 29, 2025. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua)