Taiwan students embrace life on the mainland

Editor's note: Four students from Taiwan who study at universities on the Chinese mainland share their thoughts with Gen Z's Words and Youth Power, two online programs at 21st Century, a media organization affiliated with China Daily.

Young people quick to form cross-Straits bonds through their studies

When Zheng Yaling, 21, received her admission letter from Hunan University two years ago, she immediately started looking up Hunan province on the internet. Born and raised in Jiayi, Taiwan, Zheng knew little about the Chinese mainland.

She quickly found that Yuelu Academy, located on the university's campus, was founded in 976 AD and was one of China's four major academies.

Hunan is also home to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, where the movie Avatar was filmed, while Hunan TV, China's leading entertainment content producer and broadcaster, is based in Changsha, the provincial capital.

Everything she discovered about Hunan excited Zheng about her upcoming college life. But when she shared this news with her high school friends, she received a discouraging and disappointing acknowledgment. Her friends had many concerns about Zheng leaving Taiwan for a mainland province that neither she nor any of them knew anything about. Zheng would regret her decision, they said.

But to everyone's surprise, Zheng quickly adapted to her new life.

In her dormitory, she and her roommates looked after and motivated one another. For example, her roommates taught her to type in pinyin, to write simplified Chinese characters, and to understand various Chinese accents. When Zheng returned to the university after the summer and winter vacations, she got to taste local delicacies from nearly every mainland province, which her classmates brought from their hometowns.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, Zheng's friends asked her to join them for a dinner, and on her birthday, they locked her inside a bathroom, before surprising her with presents.

"My friends are like my family," Zheng said in the latest episode of Youth Power, which aired on Aug 30. "Their love and care quickly ended my homesickness. Whenever I need them, they are always there for me."

Zheng has also taken part in English speech contests, and in Model United Nations, an extra-curricular activity in which students typically act as delegates to the UN.She won the outstanding delegation prize for the Asia International Model United Nations.

Having a passion for music, Zheng found her ideal singing partner, who comes from Inner Mongolia autonomous region. With his powerful voice and her clear tones, they won the top 10 singers' award at Hunan University.

Zheng also has a vast world to explore off campus. For example, during the summer vacation this year, she visited several mainland destinations.

In Beijing, she marveled at the Forbidden City and the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, while in Yunnan province, she witnessed the rich and unique culture of ethnic groups. In the desert area of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, she saw how rural residents have been lifted out of poverty, and in Fujian province, she experienced the local culture, which closely matches that in Taiwan.

Looking back on the past two years, Zheng does not regret her decision to study on the mainland, and she aims to act as a "bridge" for communications and cooperation across the Taiwan Straits.

"I believe that culture can transcend time, space and region, and that we all have to work together to push forward cross-Straits cultural exchanges," she said.

She has another reason to be a cross-Straits "ambassador"－her mother is from Fujian, and her father is from Jiayi, her hometown in Taiwan.

LIN HANTING

A love of new challenges prompted Lin Hanting's decision to study at Dalian University of Technology in Liaoning province after he graduated from high school in Taiwan.

"I wanted to go somewhere far from home, just to take a risk," Lin, 21, told Gen Z's Words.

But he didn't want it to be too big a risk, such as going to a college overseas. Lin had communicated with people from Western countries, and the experience felt "foreign" to him. "You can tell the difference between yourself and them. The two thinking patterns are totally different," he said.

The mainland became an obvious choice for Lin, as it was sufficiently far from home, but still close enough to his origins and culture.

"The number of classmates excelling at their studies here in Dalian is far higher than in Taiwan," Lin said.

But this kind of pressure doesn't seem to be a problem for him. Instead, it's more of an opportunity.

"I came here for a more competitive environment, a place where I can improve myself. I have a bunch of things I want to learn every day," he said.

Lin also said that education in Taiwan focuses more on the pursuit of a stable life. Eager to embrace changes and challenges, he prefers life on the mainland where, he said, efforts are rewarded.

During the past year, Lin has seen many Taiwan students at his university and neighboring schools who are enjoying living and studying in Dalian.

Asked to choose three words to best describe the mainland, Lin opted for "competition", "solidarity" and "splendid". He said young people on the mainland are constantly competing with one another and striving for better grades, bigger prizes, and a brighter future. But when they face difficulties, they unite and achieve much together.

Lin witnessed such unity among young people on the mainland when United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last month. He also voiced disappointment with the indifferent attitude held by some people in Taiwan toward this visit.

"Young people in Taiwan today care less about politics and more about profits. We need to stand together and be aware that Taiwan is a part of China, and this will never change," he said.

Lin has also witnessed a new trend on Sina Weibo, where netizens discuss the fact that many streets in Taiwan are named after mainland cities. "I think this can be regarded as a kind of nostalgia for our motherland, for our roots," he said.

He hopes that citizens from the mainland and Taiwan can work together to make China a better place.

However, a more immediate but much smaller goal for him is to take his friends in Taiwan to the Palace Museum in Beijing.