What Does “China” Mean to You?

At Nanjing Normal University, Chinese language teaching goes beyond textbooks. Every year, the university hosts a variety of cultural events to help spread Chinese culture abroad: a lively Chinese Cultural Festival in the city center, the annual Chinese Bridge competition, and the popular Spring Voice talent show. These activities not only promote Chinese culture in Ukraine, but also give us a glimpse into how local people perceive China.

Why Learn Chinese?

On the first day of class, I often ask students two questions:

1. Why did you choose to learn Chinese?
2. What kind of country do you think China is?

The answers are as diverse as the students themselves.

For many adult learners, Chinese is seen as a career investment. One middle-aged man, who traveled by train every week just to attend class, explained that his business was closely tied to Guangzhou. “Without Chinese,” he said, “I cannot grow.” For students like him, China is an economic giant, a country impossible to ignore, and a key partner for Ukraine in trade and development.

Multiple Images of China

Among university students, the image of China takes on different colors.

At the Chinese Bridge talent show, some wore traditional hanfu and performed elegant dances or guzheng music, seeing China as classical and poetic. Others sang Chinese pop songs with guitars, showing a vision of China that is modern, trendy, and youthful.

One student painted a portrait of Chairman Mao, admiring not movie stars but a leader who “pointed the way with words.” Another mistakenly performed Korean taekwondo, revealing how cultural impressions sometimes blur.

But the performance that struck me most came from one of my own students. She played a haunting solo on the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle). In her eyes, China was not singular or monotonous—it was diverse, regional, and richly textured. The judges were moved, and she won first prize.

Facing Questions and Misunderstandings

Teaching Chinese abroad also means facing curious and sometimes sensitive questions.

In beginner classes, when teaching words like “chicken, duck, fish, cat, dog,” students would often ask: “Do Chinese people eat cats and dogs?” As a teacher, I cannot simply say yes or no, nor can I ignore the question. Instead, I use it as a teaching moment:

“China is a very big country. In some regions, people eat dog meat, but it’s a local custom and cultural practice.”

By answering this way, students not only gain cultural context, but also learn two new words: 习惯 (habit/custom) and 文化 (culture).

Seeing China with Their Own Eyes

Students who have studied in China develop a much more real and emotional connection.

One graduating senior once told me that when she first came to China, she wanted to remain detached—“just study, travel, nothing more”—because she feared leaving would be too painful. But as graduation approached, she found herself overwhelmed by emotion.

She remembered the teachers who guided her, classmates who shared laughter, the little food street near campus, the schoolyard at sunset, even the dormitory guard’s warm greeting on her first day.

For her, China was no longer a faraway place. It had become a second home.

The Mission of a Chinese Teacher

As teachers, we are not only language instructors—we are also cultural messengers.

If a student’s image of China is one-dimensional, we add colors to the canvas.

If a student already sees China as a second homeland, we remind them: China is always close to you, always by your side.

And in this way, cultural exchange shortens the distance between nations, and brings hearts closer together.