Ha Thi Cam Yen facilitates Sino-Vietnamese exchanges

"As for food, I love Yunnan rice noodles and grilled tofu," said Ha Thi Cam Yen, a Vietnamese native who teaches at the College of International Studies, Honghe University in south Yunnan.

It has been 13 years since Ha Thi came to China in 2010. By working and getting married in Yunnan, she has fully adapted to the provincial lifestyles, while witnessing the continuous progress in China-Vietnam relations.

Ha Thi Cam Yen said that she has been watching Chinese TV plays since her girlhood, and it was her teenage dream to visit China. When in college, she chose the Chinese language as her major and applied for studying further in China’s Yunnan province. Here, she harvested a mater degree and a husband.

Following her graduation from the Kunming-based Yunnan University in 2013, Ha Thi and her husband moved to south Yunnan’s Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture, where she became a Vietnamese teacher -- a dream job for her.

"I hope to teach the Vietnamese language, history and culture to Chinese my students, while sharing my Chinese life with my family and friends," said Ha Thi, proud of being a cultural bridge between Vietnam and China.

Devoting herself to teaching Vietnamese over the past 10 plus years, Ha Thi Cam Yen has helped a large number of Yunnan students, many of whom are now engaged in Sino-Vietnamese cultural exchanges, bilateral trade, cross-border tourism and others.

Ha Thi added that her students working in Hanoi witnessed Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to Vietnam, and some served as volunteers during the visit. "My students and I are witnessing the development in each other's hometown, as well as the friendship between Vietnam and China."

Reporting by Chen Chen (YICC); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue; Photos: YICC, Honghe University and China Daily