Feature: Young Chinese volunteer teacher helps deepen China-Vietnam relations

"This is my second year of volunteering in Vietnam. I have extended my term to a second year as I do not want to leave and disappoint my students," said a Chinese volunteer teacher in Vietnam. Guan Li is a 25-year-old Chinese volunteer teacher who is teaching Chinese language in Hung Vuong University in Vietnam's northern Phu Tho province, some 90 km northwest of the capital Hanoi.

Registered to become a volunteer teacher in 2013, Guan was set to go to the Philippines at first, and then to Mongolia.

"But in the end, I was assigned to Vietnam," Guan told Xinhua.

"I was quite courageous when I decided to come here as I knew no Vietnamese words at that time," Guan said, adding that she faced various difficulties in communication in daily life.

"Thanks to the support from colleagues and students, I could overcome the difficulties and I have been moved by their kindness," Guan said.

"My students and their family's economic situations are quite difficult as most of them are from rural areas. However, they are rich in love," Guan told Xinhua, saying that the students prepare a bottle of drinking water for her every day, or sometimes invite her to their houses for dinner on special occasions.

"Vietnamese students are also interested in Chinese culinary culture. We often gather to make Chinese dumplings," Guan told Xinhua.

Guan lives 35 km away from the university and she has to take the school bus at six o'clock in the morning to get there on time. "Though I have to travel a long distance to get to the classroom every day, such hardships are soon forgotten when I see all my students who are so eager to learn," she said.

"Occasionally, some of my former students who have graduated call me on phone to share their experiences about working life. Others told me that they were going to China for postgraduate study. I feel happy as my students can use their Chinese language skills to make a living, and contribute to strengthening exchanges between China and Vietnam," Guan said.

It has been Guan's second year in Vietnam and the girl who hails from northeastern China who arrived with no knowledge of Vietnamese, is now proud to say she can speak the language fluently.

"When I started learning Vietnamese, from my pronunciation, local people immediately knew I was a foreigner. But now, they often ask me which part of Vietnam I am from. It means that I have made progresses in my Vietnamese language skills," she said.

"Being a Chinese volunteer teacher in Vietnam, I also have responsibilities of bringing Chinese culture to Vietnamese students and deepening the friendship between the two countries," Guan emphasized.

"Most of the students in Hung Vuong University are from rural areas. They have a desire for knowledge and show interest in Chinese culture. That's why I have continued to stay here to help them," Guan said.

Hung Vuong University was established in 2003 as a public university in Phu Tho province. The employment rate of its graduates from the Chinese language department has held steady at 100 percent, according to university president Cao Van. This year, Hung Vuong University recruited some 40 students studying Chinese language.

Since 2007, Hung Vuong University has cooperated with several universities in China's Yunnan and Guangxi for student exchanges, according to Guan.

"Through the exchanges, many of them have made friends with Chinese students and keep regular contact via the Internet," Guan told Xinhua, saying this will help students in improving their Chinese language skills and learning more about China and Chinese culture.

"Some of them opened Chinese micro blogs and even have Chinese partners," Guan said.

This year, Guan's boyfriend registered to join the volunteer program and has also been assigned to Vietnam's central Da Nang city to teach Chinese language. "Finally, we will meet in Vietnam," Guan said delightedly.

After visiting Da Nang, Guan found that there is currently no exam center for the Chinese Proficiency Test HSK for Vietnamese students there.

"After finishing my second term, I plan to travel to Da Nang to help set up an HSK exam center for students there," Guan said, adding that this is a "big dream" she has wanted to realize.

Through the efforts of young people, Guan and her friends are among growing numbers of those who are contributing to strengthening the relationship betweenChina and Vietnam, especially in cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Endite