My beautiful memories of Nanjing, China story

I am a Chemistry PhD student at Southeast University, Jiangning Campus, Nanjing, China. I first came into China on September 5, 2019. I am an adventurer and lover of nature in its greenness. I love to travel and see the world. Coming to China was a dream come through for me, as China is a very big and beautiful country, with peaceful people willing to coexist with people from all works of life. I have a very strong passion to seek for knowledge that was why I choose to study in China. I also have great dreams of becoming a teacher so that I can impact the young generations coming behind me. With the future in mind, I hope to find a teaching position at a University in China after the completion of my PhD program in the coming years.

When I first entered China, I visited a local restaurant in Nanjing where I ordered for Huangmengji. It was my very first time to eat such a delicious meal using chopsticks (kuaizi). It was one of my best moments to know that you can easily order for the hot soup while you keep refilling your plate of rice indefinitely. I have never had such a beautiful experience before in my entire life. Guess what??? I actually refilled my plate three times because the delicacy was delicious and I was very hungry.

I attended my first international conference at Yangzhou (a culture city of east Asia). The conference was held on 27th September 2019 and tagged "The 2019 world canal cities forum and world canal conference". The conference featured many international delegates from Asia and Europe as well as top Chinese government officials. All the proceedings from the conference was interesting as I gained insightful knowledge about the Chinese canals and partnership with many countries of the world.

I also went on a tour to Nanjing museum with some of my classmates. The Nanjing museum has a very beautiful architectural design with numerous historical items. I learnt a lot about Chinese history and the different dynasties in China.

It was during the 2019 Chinese national holiday when I visited the Confucius Temple in Nanjing. I had lots of fun with my friends with whom we visited the temple together. I saw the statue of the great Confucius who is a very significant part of the Chinese history for the first time and learnt a lot about Chinese culture and the dragon. I had the opportunity of tasting different dishes for free. I felt so much love from the Chinese people I interacted with.

I visited the Baijaihu park on October 31, 2020 with a colleague and mentor who just finished his PhD program from my school. We had lots of fun as it was my first time to see outside my campus after the lockdown due to COVID-19. I saw a lot of Chinese parents playing with their kids and many couples hanging out to feel the warmth of nature.

I attended a cultural event organized by the International college of Hohai University. The event featured foreign students from over 20 countries studying at Hohai University. The program was very interesting as it featured the Chinese dragon dance, and cultural heritage of all the countries represented as well as their local delicacies.

My first snowy fall experience was awesome. It snowed all day and the whole of Jiangning was painted white from the snow fall. The experience was amazing as I saw a lot of snow men. Many people built houses with the snow, people imprinted their landmarks with many beautiful designs. Different images were constructed with the snow. The entire Jiangning was painted with beautiful white images from the numerous snow designs.

As part of my relaxation routine, I go out to sit beside the water where I enjoy the cool breeze of nature. There are lots of man-made lakes and natural lakes in China like the Xuanwu Lake in my city with interesting relaxation spots to cool off after a stressful day.

The 2021 Chinese New Year was my first Chinese New Year experience since the lockdown in 2020 halted the previous celebration. I visited Catherine Park, a beautiful hang out spot with a big shopping mall. Apart from the many gifts and red packets I received from my Chinese friends and colleagues, I also had the opportunity to play many games with different people at the park.

Lest I forget, Nanjing is a very cool and beautiful city at night where you can experience the beauty of its tall and magnificent buildings decorated in various colors of light. I especially love the feeling of the city when its dark and all the lights come on, it gives a feeling of being alive!

I am a Chemistry PhD student at Southeast University, Jiangning campus, Nanjing, China. I first came into China on September 5, 2019. I am an adventurer and lover of nature in its greenness. I love to travel and see the world. Coming to China was a dream come through for me, as China is a very big and beautiful country, with peaceful people willing to coexist with people from all works of life. I have a very strong passion to seek for knowledge that was why I choose to study in China. I also have great dreams of becoming a teacher so that I can impact the young generations coming behind me. With the future in mind, I hope to find a teaching position at a university in China after the completion of my PhD program in the coming years.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.