Mvuh Zouliatou, from Cameroon and the first doctoral student at the Institute of Africa Studies of Jinhua-based Zhejiang Normal University, speaks fluent Chinese. Now a mother of a four-year-old boy, she passed HSK before her first visit to China in 2011. “Zhou Litong” is the Chinese name she made for herself.

Born in an extended family, Mvuh Zouliatou has eight siblings older than her and a younger brother, and is the only one in the family who fell in love with the Chinese language. “My eyes were first opened by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. The Chinese can fly, I thought to myself. The movies I watched back in those years triggered my curiosity about the culture as well as the language.”

Chinese officially became a big thing in middle schools and universities in Cameroon in 2008, which opened a new channel for Mvuh Zouliatou to envision about the prospects of learning Chinese. She chose Chinese to major in at the Normal School of Maroua University without any hesitation. “Chinese is so unique that it looked like a mystery to me. It is totally different from other foreign languages such as Spanish and Germany. ”

The girl’s China adventure started in 2011, when she stood out at the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students and won the chance to visit China as the Cameroon champion of the year.

“I was in my third year at college at that time. It was the first time I traveled so far from home. Finally I saw the Great Wall and Forbidden City with my own eyes. I also visited Changsha. I fell in love with the country. It was an unforgettable experience.”

The girl’s dream of furthering her Chinese study in the source of the language finally came true in 2012, after she won a scholarship from the university’s Confucius Institute. “Europe and America would be the first option of the majority of young people in Cameroon when it comes to the consideration of overseas study, but I never thought about anything other than China. I have faith in China, and I always know I made the right decision.”

Mvuh Zouliatou landed in Jinhua in the summer of 2012. “The first few months were a hard time, but everything turned out to be fine. The teachers were helpful all the time, making us feel at home.”

“Surprises came every day. Wherever I turned, I felt the magic of the country and its amazing achievements. My Chinese classmates taught me how to use Taobao. I tried ordering a pair of slippers, and I got the slippers delivered to my door the next day. It was amazing! I felt lucky about being in such a great country where the high speed train and many other small things were making everyone’s everyday life so easy and convenient.”

Mvuh Zouliatou’s stunning fluency in Chinese did not come easy. She was the most hardworking foreign students in her class, and ranked first in academic performance for the first two postgraduate years in Jinhua.

Mvuh Zouliatou went back to Cameroon and became a Chinese language teacher in a middle school in the summer of 2014. However, it did not take long before she realized it was not the end of her China adventure. She landed in China again in the fall of 2016, to pursue her doctoral degree.

“It was a hard decision to make. The separation with my one-year-old son was the most difficult part of the whole thing. Seeing him cry was heartbreaking.”

Back in China, she busied herself in all kinds of seminars, meetings and field trips in many cities and the countryside. Her doctoral years in China bore rich fruit.

“I am all for China’s ‘Belt-and-Road’ initiative that promises to bring great opportunities for the African people. I hope my country can benefit from such a great scheme in many wonderful ways. I look forward to seeing more Chinese companies invest in Cameroon, not only in industrial sectors but also in many other social undertakings such as education.”

“I felt so at home in China that sometimes when I went back to Cameroon I felt a little clumsy because there is no Taobao or any takeout Apps to use there. I made a lot of Chinese friends here, and I never felt homesick. Jinhua has become my second home, and every little progress the city made would make me very happy. When I came back here earlier this year, I almost got lost in the new train station,” Mvuh Zouliatou laughed.

Back in her hometown, Mvuh Zouliatou’s husband, an employee at a local IT business, has signed up for Chinese classes in Confucius Institute in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. “I will definitely come back to China someday. I am married to China!” She told me at the end of the interview.