Zikrya takes online classes. [Photo provided to english.jsjyt.edu.cn]

I have many stories about China. Here, there are many people who encourage me to work hard, and there are also landscapes that impress me.

In my life, China is a place with a high "appearance rate". About 8 years ago, when I was a 10-year-old child, I learned from my family that my sister studied in Yangzhou, China. I often received gifts like Chinese knots and paper cuttings from her. This made me more curious about this country.

What exactly is the charm of China?

Is it the majesty of the Great Wall? Is it the grandeur of the Forbidden City? Is it the length of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal? Or the fragrance of Yangzhou fried rice?

My sister always told me: "You must go to China and study in Yangzhou."

In September 2022, I summoned the courage and followed my sister's advice to apply to the Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute (YPI) and was lucky to become one of the scholarship recipients of Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, which started my Chinese study.

In the process of learning, I learned that China has experienced many vicissitudes and accumulated much wisdom over a period spanning more than 5000 years.

It is a country that grows braver through the trials and tribulations it has faced, and shines bright in the world like a star.

In the past, I would imagine this scene many times: a suitcase, a backpack, a girl, in an ordinary day, starting her studies in China and Yangzhou.

In the past few months, because of the COVID-19, the chalk in front of me has been replaced by a mouse, and the blackboard replaced by a computer screen. All teachers met me through the internet. E-mail and WeChat became the main communication channel between me and the teachers of YPI. However, everything comes to those who wait. With the help and guidance of the teachers of YPI and my own efforts, my Chinese proficiency has rapidly improved. Every day in Chinese class, I have been working hard to learn how to listen and write. We have carefully recorded every stroke in class.

Zikrya (Right) and her sister. [Photo provided to english.jsjyt.edu.cn]

If it was my sister who led me to this encounter with China, then it is my teacher Liu Lin from YPI who has led me to better understand China. It was she who taught me many ways to learn Chinese. "The mystery of Chinese needs a lifetime of exploration to unravel," she said.

During my studies, I got to better understand the city of Yangzhou and why Meng Haoran, the best friend of the poet Li Bai, went to Yangzhou to enjoy the beautiful scenery one day in March when fireworks filled the air and utter the beautiful sentence: "Facing the Huanghe Tower, my old friend left that place by the sailboat. With the flowers in full bloom in March, he went down the river to Yangzhou."

The city of Yangzhou is not as simple as a city in the minds of both ancient and modern people. What she represents is a fairyland on Earth that can connect people's hearts.

Time is as colorful as fireworks. Now I have received visa application materials from Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, and my sister has also started studying as a graduate student at Yangzhou University.

In the spring of 2023, we will start a new life in Yangzhou together. I have made careful preparations for my future study in China, familiarized myself with the curriculum of my intended major in advance, formulated my own academic plan and communicated with teachers regularly.

At YPI, I will face different challenges, cross the cultural bridge, pursue the mystery of the spirit of China's "Great Country Craftsman", and further explore the higher dimension of "YPI Silk Road talent".

I will also continue to work hard to improve my intercultural communication skills, become an ambassador for cultural exchanges between China and Indonesia, and take the initiative to speak out, serve as a narrator of Chinese stories, and promote Chinese culture around the world.

My story with China and the YPI is still being written.

By Afdhila Nahda Zikrya, an Indonesian international student of Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, and Zhang Zhiya