A totally international environment

I came to Shanghai to study. However, during my five years at university my opinion changed totally, so I was pleased to stay on to continue my family's business, selling handmade carpets from my home country.

My father started selling carpets in Shanghai in 2006. He used to tell me about China as a rising economic power. He encouraged me to come to Shanghai, but I was reluctant at first because I was young and wary of new environments. In my country, we all knew Chinese is a difficult language and I was unsure if it would be easy to get along with Chinese people.

After spending a year learning Chinese in Shanghai in 2009, I loved the city more than I could ever have imagined. Shanghai has a totally international environment. At Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, where I studied, I had schoolmates from 101 countries and regions across the globe. I made a lot of friends, both expats and locals.