Ningxia: Where my voice began

New name, new work

By 2012, I had become fluent in Chinese. I could write Chinese characters, recite poems, take exams, and write essays. I played soccer, entered a speech contest, and slowly found my place. At home, my role began to change as well. When my parents went out, even to buy groceries at the local market, I often translated for them.

Later, at North Minzu University, where I studied international economics and trade, I received my formal Chinese name: Fang Haoming. "Fang" comes from the syllable fang in beifang, the pinyin for the first two characters in North Minzu University's Chinese name, while "Haoming" combines the ideas of vastness and light.

At university, I took part in Chinese-language competitions for international students. After I won first prize in one such competition in Ningxia, a video of my interview with Ningxia Radio and Television Station caught the attention of China Arab TV.

Today, I work as a journalist. But when I think about where that path began, I return to Ningxia: the scent of wheat in the air, the market stall, and the classroom where I first learned to speak Chinese with confidence.

The author, Fang Haoming, born Ameen Muneer Mohammed Al-Obaidi in Iraq, is a journalist with Dubai-based China Arab TV.