"People to People International (hereinafter referred to as ‘People to People’)" is a non-governmental and non-profit organization established by former US President Eisenhower in 1956. Having experienced the cruelty of too many wars, General Eisenhower had a strong hope that people from different countries and ethnicities, could directly have dialogues and communicate with each other so as to increase mutual understanding and finally achieve the goal of world peace.

General Eisenhower’s granddaughter, Mary Eisenhower, served as CEO of the “People to People International” for many years and led several US delegations to visit China. Liu Ping accompanied Mary to visit places such as Guizhou, Sichuan and Hubei. In 2002, when visiting the Dazhai Elementary School in Anshun, Guizhou Province, Mary realized that the school needed help and decided to donate 200 sets of desks and chairs in the name of “People to People International”, which promoted a series of donations from the Ambassador Programs.

In April 2002, Ms. Mary Eisenhower (left) visited Dazhai Primary School in Anshun, Guizhou Province The black-and-white photo is Mary and her grandfather, American President Eisenhower
Students in Dazhai Elementary School, Guizhou Province

“People to People International” entrusted “People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs” (hereinafter referred to as Ambassador Programs) to organize the American professional delegations from all walks of life to visit other countries and promote dialogue among people from all segments of society.

In February 1972, President Richard Nixon’s ice-breaking tour to China opened the door to Sino-U.S. exchanges. A few years later, the Ambassador Programs started to organize professional delegations from the United States to visit China. This has continued for nearly 40 years.

“People to People” professional delegates visit the Forbidden City

Liu Ping, founder of China Star, had a chance to meet "People to People" representatives in 1997 and build a close relationship with the association.

Liu Ping liked this kind of professional exchange activity with historical, practical and social significance. She led her team to cooperate with the “Ambassador Programs” for 18 years. She and her team overcame various difficulties and organized professional delegations of about 40,000 people from the United States and other western countries to visit China and to communicate with Chinese people.

"People to People" delegation of obstetrics and gynecology visits the Peking University First Hospital

People to People professional delegations involved extensive areas, including science and technology, medicine, education, politics, law, art, sports. These professional exchange projects were conducted in the form of seminars, dialogues, discussions, observations, and interactions. These projects posed a great challenge to China Star but also helped the team to improve communication, organization and management skills. These capabilities and enhanced resilience laid the foundation for China Star to transform to a PCO (professional conference organizers) successfully.

“People to People” math education delegation visits a middle school in Beijing

In 2006, People to People celebrated its 50th anniversary. Mary Eisenhower led 350 U.S. high school students from the United States to visit Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, and Shanghai. They had extensive contacts and exchanges with Chinese students, and the seeds of friendship took root in the hearts of both Chinese and American teenagers.

Mary Eisenhower at the reception of 50th anniversary of “People to People International” in the Great Hall of the People
Li Xiaolin, president of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, at the reception of 50th anniversary of People to People International in the Great Hall of the People
Mary Eisenhower and Li Xiaolin
About 600 Chinese and American students, educators and representatives from all walks of life participate in the reception.
American students with Mary Eisenhower
Chinese students with Mary Eisenhower

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship conferred “Friendship Ambassador” upon Mary Eisenhower for her contribution to the development of the friendship between Chinese and American people.

Children from China Star with Mary Eisenhower
Mary Eisenhower, Liu Ping and Li Xiaolin

With the formidable opportunity to work with the Ambassador Programs, China Star has learned a lot and has been comprehensively trained to handle all kinds of professional activities in a professional way of high quality, which later helped China Star open the market of international association conferences and corporate meetings and events, sequentially makes China Star stand out in the industry of meetings and incentive travel of China.