Being a Chinese-man in My City

Nishith Avinash [India]

I am currently sitting in an Indian government guest house with a Chinese engineer from Yunnan and discussing a project of setting up solar pump which will benefit many farmers in irrigating their lands. As I help the Chinese engineer in communicating with local project team, I was wondering how amazing it has been to learn Chinese language and culture. Had I not known this language, I would not have been part of a very noble social project. Learning Chinese has given me an opportunity to interact and work with professionals from various walks of life. I had and have the chance to work in the capacity of an engineer, teacher,actor, voice-over artist, translator, interpreter, banker, tourist guide etc. China and Chinese people have made my life vibrant. I am the China-man in my city.

This wonderful Chinese journey began at a very young age. I was around 9 years old when I started watching TVB Chinese Kongfu serious like the "Legend of Condor Heroes".It was love at first sight. All the kungfu, kicking, swords,action, flying and magic got me addicted to China. As a kid I always thought all Chinese could fly and all of them could do kongfu.

Tang Hanming in Ciqikou ancient town.

Upon graduation I started working in family business.But it never made me mentally satisfied and made me feel that my life lacked a direction and meaning. I shared my concerns with my elder sister and told her that I was considering to study Chinese. Shortly after that she gifted me a book "Teach yourself Mandarin by Elizabeth Scurfield".I was studying Chinese via a book written by an English author. Later on one of my German friend from an online study circle told me about Confucius institute. So it's a Chinese story of an Indian boy who had sought help from an English author and a German friend.Then I applied for HSK and later on got a scholarship to go to study in Zhengzhou University. At that time I could recognize only a 100 or so Chinese characters, I could hardly speak Chinese back then.But with lots of hard work and support of Chinese friends and teachers, within a year I passed HSK5 test which had a target of 2500 characters. This is how the wonderful journey begins.

Once it started I had to never look back. Each new challenge was fun to me. I started getting more involved with China and Chinese people. I had never realized that when China became a second home to me and a part of my identity. I started teaching Chinese language to new students,translating documents from Hindi/English to Chinese and vise versa, conducting Chinese culture events (movies,painting, calligraphy, philosophy) and interpreting for Chinese actors, directors, government officials and businessmen.Now, I work for Chinese bank ICBC and support business between India and China. At the same time, I run a Chinese school to make my own small contribution to India-China cultural exchange.

India and China are two biggest economies in world.There are numerous exchanges on economical level. But these two are also amog the most ancient civilizations with a great influence on the whole world. My China story will contribute to and continue the culture exchange between these two great nations of the world.

Photo provided by Chongqing Vocational College of Culture and Arts