SALT LAKE CITY, the United States, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nearly a century after Helen Foster Snow first traveled to China as a young journalist, Utah children are carrying forward her bridge-building legacy through cross-cultural friendship.

The Helen Foster Snow Foundation hosted a Chinese cultural experience event Saturday at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City -- an immersive living history museum -- featuring the premiere of "Bridge to a Shared Future," a U.S.-China co-produced documentary that traces the pioneering journalist's path through a modern lens.

"It's tremendously rewarding," said Dan Stephenson, a board member of the foundation who watched as local children practiced calligraphy and conversed in Chinese, honoring Helen Foster Snow's legacy of cross-cultural friendship.

"Almost 100 years ago, Helen Foster Snow went to China and accomplished amazing things and formed deep connections and people-to-people bonds with many people in China. We are always looking to follow her example in trying to build bridges and trying to understand other people around the world," he told Xinhua.

The documentary follows Adam Foster, Helen's great-nephew and president of the Helen Foster Snow Foundation, as he retraces his great-aunt's footsteps through Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an and Baoji in China.

Helen lived in China as a foreign correspondent in the early 20th century, where she met and married journalist Edgar Snow, the first Western reporter to interview Mao Zedong.

During China's civil war and the resistance war against Japanese aggression, Helen interviewed Mao and other Communist Party of China (CPC) leaders, ultimately writing more than 60 books and articles, including "Inside Red China" and "My China Years."

Her husband's "Red Star Over China", published in 1937, has been considered a classic. The book profoundly shaped Western public opinion and policy toward China, and multiple editions have also been released in China.

The hour-long film "Bridge to a Shared Future" captures dramatic changes in the cities Helen once knew, showing her former residences and historic sites through Foster's contemporary perspective.

"She was a young American girl who decided to leave her front doorstep, cross the ocean and learn about a totally different culture and a different people," Foster said. "I think there's something that we can learn from that, as the relationship between our two countries is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world."

Foster called the documentary "very timely," noting its message that "even when we don't necessarily agree with each other, we can still find ways to work together on things that are important."

The screening, co-organized with the China Literature and Art Foundation and Shaanxi Tourism Group, drew Chinese-language students, their parents, university representatives and community members. A panel discussion with the creative team followed the screening.

The Saturday event was also one stop of a roadshow titled "Capture the Moments of Friendship: a Cinematic Record of China-U.S. Relations."

"The film seeks to carry forward the bond built by Helen Foster Snow," said Zhang Keke, general manager of Shaanxi Tourism Group's Film and Television Cultural Co. "When Adam Foster retraced this unfinished journey, history came alive again. His steps were not just a visit, but a continuation of legacy and spirit -- a handshake across three generations."

Zhang emphasized the symbolic importance of bringing the film to Utah, where Helen's journey began. Born in Cedar City in 1907, Helen later moved to Salt Lake City before high school and set sail for Asia in 1931, aspiring to become a writer.

"It is a return across mountains and seas, a renewal of the goodwill that set out from this city nearly a century ago, and that has been warmly remembered in China ever since," Zhang said. "We believe the Snows showed us a path of coexistence, built on respect and understanding. It is a path that will always lead people of different civilizations toward peace and friendship."

Stephenson, who also serves as executive director of Economic Bridge International -- a consultancy helping U.S. and Chinese companies collaborate-- said Helen's legacy gave Utah a unique international perspective.

"There is more of an international outlook and a willingness to look beyond borders and connect with other people regardless of where they are," he told Xinhua Saturday. "Tonight's event was a great example of that, and watching the documentary film showing Helen's life story, I'm sure, was impactful for many of the young people here."