With the expansion and deepening of people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, the peoples of the two countries have been able to feel the charm of diverse cultures and experience the joy of getting to know and understand each other.

"It's an amazing experience for Americans to get to know the diversified cultures of the Chinese ethnic groups," Betty McGinnis, president of the U.S.-based World Artists Expe riences (WAE), said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

In partnership with the Chinese embassy in the United States, the WAE brought the "Colorful China," a cultural exchange program that made its debut in the United States in October 2010, back here again last November with a showcase of exquisite costumes, dances, music and rich fabric of Chinese ethnic groups.

The nearly 50 members of the Colorful China all resided with American families throughout their visit, an experience that many members said they would never forget.

"We celebrated Halloween together, we went to knock the doors and ask for candies," recalled Rong Zhang, a performer from China's Qiang ethnic group. "I taught them the songs and dances of the Qiang people, which they've got fascinated with."

This was just a slice of the vigorous people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, which spans a wide range of fields including education, culture, sports, science and technology.

The increased activity has stemmed from an important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries more than two years ago.

During his visit to China in November 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges as a means of developing support at all levels for the friendship between the two countries and to give fresh impetus to the development of their relationship.

And this was reinforced by Hu's state visit to the United States in January 2011, when the two presidents reiterated their commitment to more robust people-to-people exchanges.

The vitality also resulted from the establishment of a new platform for those exchanges.

In May 2010, Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched high-level consultations on people-to-people exchanges in Beijing and presided over the first round of negotiations.

"The key to sound relations between states lies in amity between the people, and the key to amity between people lies in heart-to-heart exchange," Liu said at the second round of discussions in Washington D.C. in April 2011.

"People-to-people exchange is a bridge of understanding and trust between states and between peoples. It also provides an inexhaustible driving force for deepening China-U.S. relations," she said.