Students in Nigeria prepare a surprise for Zou Weiqin on Teachers' Day. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]

Xiamen University (XMU) has long embraced openness and exchange, building bridges for mutual learning among civilizations in the global arena of communication.

Among these efforts, XMU's international Chinese language education volunteers have played a vital role in fostering cross-cultural understanding worldwide.

Selected from outstanding XMU students, the volunteers undergo rigorous training before embarking on teaching assignments abroad. Nearly 800 volunteers have been dispatched to different parts of the world as of Aug 2025.

Zou Weiqin went to Nigeria in 2018 to teach Chinese language. Despite challenging conditions – frequent power and water outages, limited supplies, and poor sanitation – her students' determination deeply moved her. They studied by lamplight and eagerly asked questions after class.

Treating them like family, she in turn was regarded as one of their own. With her guidance, 26 Nigerian students received the scholarship and fulfilled their dream of studying in China.

Jiang Xingyi began teaching at the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. There, she met Will, a 35-year-old student with ADHD and ASD. Encouraging him with praise whenever he wrote a correct Chinese character, Jiang helped him build confidence. Will said, "the Confucius Institute nurtured me, and learning Chinese has also made me more confident."

Different times, places, and volunteers share the same mission: to open windows into China for people across the world. For the volunteers themselves, teaching abroad is equally transformative, enriching their cultural identity and professional competence.

After graduating from XMU, Qiu Yuhua spent a year as a volunteer teacher in Phuket, Thailand, in 2013. She later pursued a master's degree in Chinese International Education College at XMU, dedicating herself to becoming a stronger cultural ambassador.