After receiving admission letters from several graduate schools in Europe, Theo Aperkor, a young man from Ghana, thought carefully before deciding to accept a scholarship in China. He decided he wanted to see the changes transforming the country firsthand.

"Everyone knows about the China phenomenon," says the young man, who has been studying international journalism and communications at a specialized university in Beijing for three years. "You hear about it all the time. But few people know what the country is really like."

Aperkor worked as a media and communications researcher in Ghana for five years, and he had little knowledge of China before arriving there. Most of it came through Western literature and movies.

"The only footage I'd seen about China back home was from kung fu movies. I have watched a lot of Jet Li movies."

However, they only showed China as it was in the 1980s. A lot has changed since then.

Recalling his first encounter with China, Aperkor says he did not realize he was underprepared until he arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport and tried to take a taxi. The driver understood no English. The same thing happened when he finally reached the dormitory and tried to deal with the staff members.

"The good thing about China is that people here will go out of their way to help you," he says.

For example, don't be surprised and confused when you have a problem and your Chinese friend tells you seriously "to drink more water".

Due to a common belief among Chinese that water helps purify and detoxify the human body, people who feel unwell are often advised to drink more water.

"We always joke about that," Aperkor says. "When someone's computer breaks down, we tell him to drink more water."

But he says: "It's just the Chinese way of showing they care for you."

The graduate student says he has experienced Chinese hospitality in many different ways. He recalls spending his first Spring Festival at a home in Linyi city in eastern Shandong province at the invitation of a classmate.

During the most important festival in China, they ate dumplings, set off firecrackers and stayed up late talking and watching the annual China Central Television gala in an apartment overlooking two beautiful rivers.

"The hosts had three generations living under the same roof," Aperkor says. "For me, it was like an adventure. What I had not seen on TV, the family traditions and the atmosphere, I got to experience in real life."

Aperkor has not visited southern China but says he plans to do his PhD there.

"There is no rush. I will have plenty of time and opportunities to explore the southern part of China. After that, I may find a job there and start a family."

He is open to all the possibilities that China has to offer, he says.

Xinhua

(China Daily 05/25/2014 page4)