For Chinese visitors, Astana is a gem with many facets that are familiar

ASTANA: A sudden snow was the latest dip in the weather when we arrived here on Saturday, with a temperature of -25 C at noon proving a little tough for most reporters from our Chinese delegation.

Yet the different climate didn't make the city, the capital of Kazakhstan, very exotic to us, mostly because we can find traces of Chinese culture.

Though the country has a population of 12 million and has 131 ethnic groups, we were surprised to find that many of its officials and government staffers can speak Chinese.