Mi Lai recounts his volunteer experience at the cultural gala on Dec 11. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Mi Lai (Chinese name), from Zimbabwe, is a fourth-year student studying applied physics at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology. In the gala, Mi chose to act out his experiences volunteering in Hangzhou (such as promoting garbage sorting and respecting traffic laws).

When asked about his most memorable experience during his three years as a volunteer, Mi could not hide his admiration for a group of senior residents at a community in Hangzhou's Jianggan district, who came to take English courses at a free class he taught in 2017.

"They were at least 60 years old. I was very surprised and asked about their motivations. They told me that they were learning English in order to help make Hangzhou more international, as the city will begin to receive more and more foreign tourists and hold the 2022 Asian Games," Mi said.

Dai Ya (in the foreground) and her colleagues at Zhejiang University perform at the cultural gala on Dec 11. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hangzhou's internationalization efforts also impressed Dai Ya (Chinese name), a second-year Russian student at Zhejiang University. When asked about her greatest experience in the city, she said the 2020 Hangzhou Global Qipao Festival without hesitation.

"Expat students at our university, including me, attended the performance during the festival while wearing beautiful Qipao (a traditional Chinese one-piece dress). It was incredibly fun! It was my first time trying on a Qipao," Dai said with a smile.

Dai was among the many dancers from Zhejiang University at the finale show at the "Dreams Come True in Zhejiang" cultural gala this year.