[Russia] Ekaterina Fomenko, China University of Petroleum (East China)
When I first set foot on this magical land, I fell in love with it instantly.
In 2006, I came to China for the first time and landed in Qingdao, a beautiful coastal city in Shandong Province, amid the fresh sea breeze. At that time, Qingdao just concluded with Russia’s Perm as a friendly and cooperative city. The blue sea and azure sky, green trees and beautiful scenery, safe, comfortable and hygienic living environment, as well as its warm-hearted and hospitable people deeply attract me a lot. I decided to stay here. Since then, China has formed an Indissoluble “blood relations” with me.
After gaining my undergraduate’s and master’s degrees at Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University in Heilongjiang Province, I returned to Qingdao in 2017 to study for a doctoral degree in chemistry at the China University of Petroleum (East China). During this period, I have participated in the Sino-Russian exchange and cooperation activities. I continue to discover China, experience China and understand China. At the same time, I harvested love and got married to Mr. Right, a Chinese man, to form our small family. The birth of our child marked the start of “blood relationship” with China.
During a physical examination a few years ago, I found that I was Rh-negative O-type blood, also known as “panda blood”. After knowing the rarity and particularity of this blood type, I insist on donating blood in China every year voluntarily. So far, I have donated a total of 2, 500 ml blood. I am very happy that the blood from my body can help the people who need it. It becomes “blood connected” between China and I, which helps uplift my “blood relationship”.
Being a beneficiary of Chinese education for international students, I have actively participated in social practice and served the local education sector since I was a doctoral candidate. Under my assistance, inter-school exchanges and cooperation have been established between No. 4 Middle School in Russia’s Khabarovsk, Pushkin College and primary and middle schools in Qingdao. I also hosted some TV programs such as the intangible cultural heritage and Chinese Talent Competition for international students organized by the Qingdao West Coast New Area TV Station.
During the Qingdao SCO Summit held on June 2018, I participated in the interpretation of local government cooperation meetings. I was interviewed by People’s Daily, CCTV, Shandong Satellite TV, Qingdao TV and other media. I was honored twice the “West Coast Friendship Messenger” medals. This is the glory of my life.
In 2018, the crew from CCTV4’s Foreigners in China worked a program with me. The program, titled Teacher’s Classroom, was broadcast on June 30, 2019 on CCTV4. It reported the story of Ye Lianping, a retired teacher from Buchen village, Hexian County in Maanshan, Anhui Province. For more than 10 days, we were with Mr. Ye and the children there and experience their lives. I was moved by Ye’s spirit, and the children’s living conditions and their desire for knowledge and the outside world moved me. At the end of the shooting, I organized a remote communication for the village children and their Russian peers. Through this, I wish to open a window to the outside world for the children.
This shooting of the program refreshes my understanding of China and the Chinese people. China’s development is not balanced; There are developed areas, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. There are also many places still underdeveloped. But even in these backward places, you will also find the glorious human nature—honest and kindhearted. There are lots of people who hold up hope for China’s future without asking for any rewards. In my opinion, they represent the powerful inner force for China’s development.
My study in China strengthened my understanding of the nation. Since it was founded 70 years ago, the People’s Republic of China has made tremendous achievements in the fields of politics, economics and foreign diplomacy. Advanced high-speed railways, convenient mobile payment, aircraft carrier, the Sky Eye project, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System are all the examples of China’s development.
The world wants to study China’s path, but many foreign experts believe their understanding just scratches the surface of China. In my opinion, the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC)is the root cause of these achievements. That is to say, only with the correct leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have a better life.
Take the Qingdao as an example. All the projects, such as the undersea tunnel, cross-sea bridge, Blue Silicon Valley, West Coast New Area of Qingdao ... were just a “dream” in 2006. But now they have become a reality with the “Chinese Dream”.
My blood relationship with China enables me to fall in love with from the city to the country. I love China’s long history, profound culture, beautiful scenery, the rapid development of the city, I love its warm, kind and friendly people!
The year 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. My roots are in Russia, but my home is in China, to I am “blood connected.” I would like to continue my role as an “ambassador” for friendly exchanges between China and Russia, to add to the icing on the cake for Sino-Russian friendship and to tell the world a good Chinese story.
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
