Originally published July, 2011

 After graduating from university, I was offered a Chinese Language Scholarship from the Chinese government (this one, although it doesn't seem to run anymore). It covered a year of intensive Mandarin studies at a Chinese university, accommodation within the dorms, and around £200 of spending money every month. We were asked to select three universities from the list of participating institutions. For my first and second choices, I selected Sichuan University, where I'd spent my year abroad, and the beautiful Xiamen University in the south east of China. For the third choice, I closed my eyes and picked a name at random. Fujian Normal University in Fuzhou, your standard 10-million strong Chinese city that most Westeners have never heard of. Can you guess which one I was assigned?

I had a lot of funny experiences in Fuzhou. I came second-to-last in a televised game show and won a weirdly useful wireless vacuum cleaner. China's national ping pong champion taught me calligraphy at his mansion while my chaperone shamelessly hit on him. My teacher almost got fired when she accused me of faking a very real kidney stone to get out of class. I met some dodgy characters and some truly wonderful people I hold dearly in my heart today.

Looking back, the experience taught me that a year is what you make of it. With few people that spoke English around me and a very different setting to what I was accustomed to, I could have easily felt like an outsider. But I loved my year there, even though I felt ready to leave when the time came. 

I have a special place for Fuzhou in my heart, one I hope to write about in the future. In the meantime, some of my favourite snapshots:

Fujian Normal University (the foreign students' building)

三坊七巷, Three Lanes and Seven Alleys.

A little more info here