Coming-of-age ceremonies are infused with meanings to modern teens.

The atmosphere is solemn at the magnificent Mount Tai on a recent morning. Some 60 students from Taiwan's Kaohsiung St Paul's High School and Shandong province's Tai'an No 19 Middle School gathered to declare their adulthood witnessed by Mount Tai, the most renowned sacred mountain in China, and a world-renowned treasure house of history and culture.

The event was jointly organized by the Shandong Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office, Tai'an Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office and the Mount Tai management committee.

Middle school students from Taiwan and Shandong read poetry eulogizing the majestic and precipitous Mount Tai on July 7 in Tai'an, Shandong province. [Photo/ 1545ts.com]

"This is a very meaningful event and it offers an opportunity for the youth of Taiwan to experience Chinese mainland's social development as well as to enhance Shandong-Taiwan youth exchanges," said Cao Xiaowu, deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office.

"I'm very delightful to visit Mount Tai because it is my first time climbing the majestic mountain. What's more, it's very interesting to have communications with peers from Tai'an No 19 Middle School," said a student from Kaohsiung.

Another student from Taiwan shared her thoughts, "this time we have experienced a lot, we visited the Confucian Temple and climbed Mount Tai. I am delighted to make new friends from Shandong.”

About 60 senior high students from Taiwan's Kaohsiung and Shandong's Tai'an attend the adulthood ceremony on July 7 at Mount Tai in Tai'an, Shandong province. [Photo/ 1545ts.com]

Cao Xiaowu, deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office, issues certificates of adulthood to students at the coming-of-age ceremony on July 7 at Mount Tai. [Photo/ 1545ts.com]