Nationality: South Korea
Course: Mandarin
I have been exposed to Chinese culture since I was a child. When I was 12, my parents sent me to Nanjing, China to attend primary school. I returned to South Korea for junior high school, and my study of Chinese was paused for a while. However, in senior high school, I rediscovered my passion for it and persevered. During the college years, there was an opportunity to be an exchange student, and at that time, I chose Tourism College of Zhejiang China as my destination. I studied at TCZJ for over two years. Thanks to the excellent teachers who guided and helped me, my Chinese significantly improved.
After graduating from undergraduate studies at TCZJ, I wanted to understand China and learn Chinese more systematically, so I applied for a master’s degree in Chinese International Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After graduating, I worked as a local teacher teaching Chinese at the Confucius Institute of Hunan University in South Korea. Teaching Chinese is different from learning Chinese. In the Confucius Institute, I am both a learner and an educator of Chinese. I need to illuminate the path of Chinese learning for more people and clear away their misunderstandings about Chinese. At the same time, preparing lessons and explaining them repeatedly deepened my own understanding of Chinese. There is a saying in The book of Rites of the learning that states, “Teaching and learning promote each other.” This means that teaching others can also increase one’s own knowledge. I believe my experience fits this situation well. I plan to apply for a PhD in China next year, aiming to contribute to the continued friendship between China and South Korea.

Nationality: Ukrainian
Course: Mandarin
Current Position:  Postgraduate Student, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Hello alumni students! Hello colleagues! Greetings to Tourism College of Zhejiang!
My name is Kristina Shyntsova. I am a Ukrainian descent, who first came to Zhejiang, Hangzhou in 2011 as an exchange student and learned Mandarin in TCZJ. In 2017 I was honoured to become a teacher in TCZJ and started an English teaching career in our beautiful Qiandao Lake Campus. Throughout the years, I have been able to witness TCZJ development and growth. And I feel proud to be part of it and grow together with it. My personal and professional growth are all attributed to TCZJ and I cannot be more grateful for the opportunity it offered me.

Nationality: Russian
Course: Mandarin
I studied at Tourism College of Zhejiang China in 2019, which I can say was one of the best times in my life. TCZJ is also the best of the four higher education institutions I have attended. Now let me tell you why.
(1) Care. I was very moved by the hospitality, care and concern of the college. When I first arrived, there were students picked me up at the airport, and there were also two students who can speak Russian to help me. When I had any questions, I could ask them for help. So I didn’t feel lost. (2)Teachers. The teachers have always been supportive. They are genuinely happy for each student’s achievements and genuinely worried if we face difficulties. (3)Activities. In addition to interesting studies, the college also provides many opportunities for students to participate in activities. For example, I participated in the English Club, Chinese speech competition, study tour, and many other activities. (4)Campus. The campus of the TCZJ is great. I enjoy the beautiful scenery and take walks every day. The dormitories are beautiful and comfortable. The food in the campus restaurant is not only delicious, but also cheap. I still miss the tomato and egg noodles there. (5)Progress. My Chinese has improved a lot. I would give the credit to the TCZJ, which has offered an environment that cultivated my love for China and the desire to learn Chinese.

Nationality: Russian
Course: Mandarin
In 2019, I had a good opportunity to go to China as an exchange student. Thus, I was in China for the first time and visited Hangzhou, where I started learning Chinese at TCZJ. And even though several years have passed since my graduation, I believe that the experience I received has become unforgettable. Starting from the college territory, the education system and the teachers. I remember the territory of the college especially, there are a lot of beautiful parks with lakes where swans live, it was always nice to walk there; the gym where my friends and I often played badminton; in addition, I also really remembered the large library, which always had enough space for everyone to study, and I could even find additional textbooks there in Chinese for foreigners, which was very convenient. I remember I even saw a several of Russian books there .
About the education, I was in an advanced Chinese language group and sometimes it was quite difficult for me. But the teachers always tried to find an approach to each student, even if I was the only one of the whole group who didn't understand something, the teacher was always ready to repeat and try to explain the material even for one student. In general, I am grateful to the teachers of TCZJ separately, they supported, always helped and tried to reveal the talent of each student. Studying at TCZJ helped me pass HSK4. Sometimes we gathered foreign students together with a teacher and had lunch, it seemed to me that it was look like one small family at a family dinner.

Nationality: South Korea
Course: Mandarin
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my Alma Mater, Tourism College of Zhejiang China, for giving me this valuable opportunity. In my heart, TCZJ is the most beautiful school. Although I only studied at TCZJ for one year, it was a very happy and wonderful time in my life. My feelings for TCZJ, could be summarized in three “mosts”.
The first “most” is “the place I like to go the most” - the badminton court. Because I went to the badminton court every day, both to play badminton and to lose weight. As a result, I lost about 40 kilograms. I also met many Chinese friends there and persisted in practicing with them. The second “most” is the “most delicious food” in the campus canteen. Rice with duck legs, Bibimbap, spicy hot pot, Lanzhou ramen, fried sauce noodles, and Stewed Pork Ball. In my view, this is the most intoxicating taste. The third “most” is the “most honourable teachers”. My favorite people are my teachers. I deeply respect and appreciate them. Not only did they teach me a lot of knowledge, but they also gave international students like me meticulous care. My teacher also encouraged me to participate in speech competitions and knowledge competitions for international students in Zhejiang province. This was a big challenge for me, and I spent a lot of time and energy on it. In the end, I won the third prize in the competition, which is the first time in my life that I got a trophy.

Nationality: South African
Course: Chinese Culinary Arts
I feel deeply honour to be given this opportunity today as well as very privileged to welcome be the one of the ex students to write this brief introduction of myself. It's been so many years, I still remember my first day being in China, my first friend who was very welcoming, my first lecture it was the best feeling ever. My experience with being at Tourism College of Zhejiang was one of the best experiences of my life from the very welcoming people to the best lecturers and even the staff in the canteen even though language was a problem at first but they always tried to communicate with us, and thanks to technology we started using translators. What I enjoyed the most about my time there was when we had to go to our Chinese Language class which was on Thursday. The mandarin language was very difficult at times but as time went I started learning a few basic words to communicate. What I learned from College was that hard works pays and that is my new motivation that if you work hard you can achieve anything. It was a pleasure to be one of the students in TCZJ 2019 and I wish I stayed a little bit longer because it was very nice being there and I learned so much especially about the Chinese culinary arts.

Nationality: South African
Course: Chinese Culinary Arts
I am Priscilla, working as a Junior Chef at Asian restaurant Food. I just want to thank TCZJ team that gave their all for us to have brighter future. I am still sharing all the skills I have learned in China, since I cook Asian food. I am grateful that I was one of your students, indeed that 1 year we spent together was worth it. My employer is a Philippine, she always praises my cooking skills and ask where did I gained such excellent skills, I always proudly say from my international school TCZJ, Thank you TCZJ team for brightening my future ! If I were to be given a chance to come back China I would without even thinking twice. You cared for us even in the difficult days. We do have Chinese customers are used to greet them in Chinese that I learned from my school mates there. Thank you.