At age 13, Ruiyang Xiao already knows that when it is time for college, he will study biology or a science-related field.

Soft-spoken but not shy, modest but highly intelligent, Xiao said he loves biology, animals and entomology.

Speaking through an interpreter Sunday, Xiao was one of 24 elite students from China visiting Black Hawk College as part of an 18-day tour of the Midwest for credit in a natural resources studies course.

The course is being offered through the Environment & Public Health Network for Chinese Students and Scholars. The organization is a network that connects students, scholars, business and government institutions in China, the United States and other countries to improve the environment and public health.

The idea is to begin a 10-year relationship between the people of the Mississippi and Yangtze river basins using culture, conservation and commerce as diplomatic tools that support a renewal of the Shanghai Communique in 2022.

Mary Shuda of the Quad-City Chinese Association helped to plan the Quad-City leg of the trip for the students, who range in age from 13 to 17.

The educational program is called Rivers as Bridges. Shuda said the students will learn scientific procedures in field research, wet labs and hands-on experiments in natural resources sciences with study about air, water, biology, soil, fisheries, wildlife and wetlands.

This was Xiaos first trip to the United States. Ive been to Canada, Turkey and Malaysia, he added.

Im from Beijing, and got to go to the Olympics, Xiao said. His favorite sports are badminton, table tennis and basketball.

Yiyang Yu, 13, also from Beijing, is in the second year of middle school.

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Chinese students touring Midwest make Q-C stop