Many ponds in North China have been filled with fully bloomed lotus flowers in recent days. They are a visual feast not only for Chinese tourists, but also for many young people from the United States.

While admiring the flowers in Baoding city's Ancient Lotus Pond with his Chinese peers, David Einy Herrera took many pictures with his phone. "This flower is so beautiful! I've never seen such a flower before," said Herrera, a member of a US delegation that visited Baoding, Hebei province, this month for a 12-day summer camp with Chinese peers.

From July 10 to 21, the delegation of high school students and teachers from the West Contra Costa Unified School District in California visited the ancient city, which is about 150 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing. During their trip, the group also visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China in neighboring Beijing.