Mvuh Zouliatou in her PhD garment poses for a photo at the Institute of Africa Studies on the campus of Zhejiang Normal University. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn] 

Mvuh Zouliatou, from Cameroon and the first doctoral student at the Institute of Africa Studies of Jinhua-based Zhejiang Normal University, speaks fluent Chinese.

Now the mother of a four-year-old boy, she passed HSK before her first visit to China in 2011. "Zhou Litong" is the Chinese name she chose for herself.

Mvuh Zouliatou has a large extended family, with eight older siblings and one younger brother, but she the only one who fell in love with the Chinese language. "My eyes were first opened by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. The Chinese can fly, I thought to myself. The movies I watched back in those years triggered my curiosity about the culture as well as the language."

Chinese officially became a big thing in middle schools and universities in Cameroon in 2008, which opened a new channel for Mvuh Zouliatou to learn Chinese. She chose to major in Chinese at the Normal School of Maroua University without hesitation. "Chinese is so unique that it seemed like a mystery to me. It is totally different from other foreign languages such as Spanish and German. "

Mvuh's China adventure started in 2011, when she stood out at the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students and won the chance to visit China as the Cameroon champion of the year.

"I was in my third year at college at that time. It was the first time I had traveled so far from home. Finally I saw the Great Wall and Forbidden City with my own eyes. I also visited Changsha. I fell in love with the country. It was an unforgettable experience."

Mvuh's dream of furthering her Chinese study in China itself finally came true in 2012, after she won a scholarship from the university's Confucius Institute. "Europe and America would be the first option of the majority of young people in Cameroon when it comes to the consideration of overseas study, but I never thought about anything other than China. I have faith in China, and I always feel I made the right decision."