Culture and language drive desire to achieve

Bella Tseeva is a student at Peking University's Yenching Academy. Before she enrolled, the 25-year-old Russian-Portuguese dual national had studied for two years at a high school in Changshu, Jiangsu province, was a counselor at a summer camp in Beijing and studied Chinese at Smith College in the United States.

The combination of her happy high school memories, the work with children that inspired her interest in the language and her career, the knowledge she gained from her Chinese major courses at university and the experience of being an overseas student have produced a soft spot in her heart for China, she said.

"I would say that Chinese culture, history, innovations, cities and food are definitely the big attractions of the country. For me, China is special because it is the place that embraced me warmly, gave me the opportunity to learn and explore my interests, taught me that I should be active and provided resources for me to become a better person, as well as doing something meaningful for others."

She said Russian students will definitely continue to come to China because it has always been one of their top study destinations.

As the China-Russia bond continues to strengthen and cooperation between the countries endures, many Russian students are interested in studying Chinese and learning from the people to find better ways for the two countries to communicate and deepen innovation, she said.

With regard to Portuguese students, she said she hopes more will challenge themselves to explore places farther away than nearby European countries and come to study in China.

"In Portugal, interest in China has been growing recently. I was surprised to learn that more Portuguese students are learning Chinese in their universities, especially with the popularity of Confucius Institutes in Portugal and partner universities. Hopefully, this trend will continue and many of them will actually make it to China," she said.

Moreover, some professors and educators in Portugal have been highlighting the fact that in addition to language programs, there needs to be an advance in partnerships with scientific programs (medicine and science, technology, engineering and math). In general, many have started associating China with the future, thus the need to acquire language skills and knowledge serves as the bigger motivator to be interested in China, she added.

"Growing up in Portugal we did not learn much about China in school, thus the majority of young people have a stereotypical idea of the country," she said.

"Only after I visited China and met the people did I realize its beauty and richness. I became curious to learn more and to passionately tell other people about it."