This September, CUG welcomed an international student named Beitian, who has a passion for Chinese culture. Beitian is a young lady from Bulgaria. She started to learn Chinese at the age of 14 and majors in Chinese at the University of Veliko Tarnovo. In the Bulgarian Regional Final of the 22th Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, she won the first prize, so she obtained the opportunity to study at CUG for a year with the International Chinese Teacher Scholarship.
Chinese Bridge: connecting the world
In 2019, Beitian won the champion in Bulgaria in the Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students. Being only 15 years old, she came to China for the finals on behalf of her country. However, with only one year of Chinese learning, she didn’t go beyond top 30.
“More peoplegot toknow about me and Bulgaria and I am very happy with the result.I did my best.” Back in Bulgaria, Beitian kept learning Chinese. She began to read Chinese books, listen to Chinese music, andchat a lotwith Chinese friends and her classmates who were good at Chinese. In the following four years, she learned faster and improved her Chinese substantially.
Beitian(third from the left)
This May, Beitian won the first prize in the Bulgarian Regional Final of the Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, which qualified her for the global finals held in Guangxi Province. In the competition with 138 contestants from more than 120 countries, she won the third prize in the global finals and became much more confident of studying at CUG.
“It’s my dream to study in China.”
When Beitian was a child, she went to a Chinese restaurant with her family, which was the first time she learned about China and the beginning of her growing interest in China.
At the age of 15, she was supposed to choose a foreign language she wanted to learn, and she decided to try something different —Chinese. Beitian’s first Chinese teacher told them all kinds of stories about China and soon she fell in love with China. It has been her dream to study in China ever since.
After the Chinese Bridge Competition,Beitian applied for and gained the International Chinese Teacher Scholarship. As CUG is a close partner of the University of Veliko Tarnovo where she was learning in Bulgaria, she chose to realize her dream at CUG.
“I want to be a bridge between China and Bulgaria.”
While learning Chinese, Bettian has been attracted to many things about China. She likes Chinese food, Hanfu (traditional clothing of the Chinese Han Majority), China’s scenery, Chinese tea culture,and mobile payment.
Beitian said that she is well adapted to living in China. “I want to be a bridge, a bridge between China and Bulgaria. We two peoples can be friends and work together.”
(Edited and translated from the Chinese version)
