On June 24, 35 Chinese and U.S. university students took part in a friendly table tennis match and then toured an innovative urban substation, the 110kV Lieqiao Substation, nicknamed the “Power Box.” Combining sports exchanges with hands-on experience of cutting-edge green technologies, the activity forms part of the 2026 China-US Youth Future Climate Leadership Exchange Program in the Greater Bay Area.
For the American students, the table tennis session went beyond physical exercise. One participant, Sophia Olivia Moser-Smith, said she was excited to play alongside her Chinese peers, who were skilled and patient coaches.
Shang Jiaxuan, a sports training major at Guangdong University of Technology, noted the warm atmosphere: "She(Sophia) seemed very talented from the very start and played incredibly well. I told her how to grip the racket, adjust the racket angle for backhand strokes, and shift her stance for forehand hits."
Following the vibrant table tennis practice and matches at the university's gymnasium, the group visited the 110kV Lieqiao Substation, known as the "Power Box," located in the central scenic zone of Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe District, Guangzhou.
The facility is China Southern Power Grid's first urban substation complex that integrates power transformation, science popularization, and public urban living-room functions. It showcases a host of new green and low-carbon technologies, including prefabricated assembly and rooftop photovoltaic generation.
The substation's green credentials are impressive. Its energy-saving and carbon-reduction measures have cut annual carbon emissions by approximately 140.3 tons, improved building energy efficiency by 26.1%, and reduced total carbon emissions by roughly 50% compared to conventional substations.
The substation visit was eye-opening and exciting for the students. Quynh Pham Do, an environmental engineering undergraduate from the University of California, Riverside (UCR), was impressed by the facility’s comprehensive, efficiency-driven design.
"I noticed that throughout the entire tour, it was all about energy saving, low cost, and general optimization to output the most with the least costs," she said. She added that the global green movement requires every country's participation, and she felt excited to be surrounded by nice and welcoming people, and remarkable technologies that she might not otherwise see in the U.S.
Elizabeth Corryn DeFrance, a Ph.D. student in chemical and environmental engineering at UCR, was impressed by the substation’s central urban location and public-friendly design.
"It's really in the center of the city, and it's designed so that it fits in with the city, and people can come and visit," she observed. "They're actually integrated in a way that's useful for the public."
More importantly, she saw the tour as a bridge for knowledge transfer: "We’re able to come here and learn what China has already implemented, then bring that into our careers, back home in the U.S. With the examples that China has done, we can also implement substations like this to reach our carbon goals over in the U.S."
Wendy Agyeiwah Oppong, another UCR student majoring in global and community health, echoed the sentiment. "It's one thing to learn about it, and it's another thing to be here and to see it in person," she said. "It's really wonderful. I'm really learning a lot about the wonderful electricity substation built in Guangzhou. All my classmates and I have learned a great deal."
Reporter | Guo Chuhua
Photo | Guo Chuhua
