I am a Vietnamese girl and I love Chinese culture, especially ancient Chinese literature. I have been in Wuhan, Hubei Province for almost three years. I stayed not too long, but long enough to make up my mind to study hard. It is an inner flame that drives me each and every day.　

When I just finished the above paragraph, I naturally recalled the first day I arrived in Wuhan. It was a fresh morning. As I opened the window, I saw the tree-covered campus and breathed in the refreshing cool air. It was my biggest dream as a student to come to China to study, especially at Central China Normal University. From the Chinese class at my senior middle school and ancient Chinese literature class at college in Vietnam, I had learned the triple city of Wuhan consisted of Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang. Located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River, Wuhan is known as “Gateway to Nine Provinces,” where the fabled story of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi took place. This is a blessed land with great attractions, such as the Heptachord Terrace (Guqin Tai) and Yellow Crane Tower. You see, I had heard of Wuhan before I actually arrived in the city.  On the second day night, I looked out of the window at the moon in the direction of the Yellow Crane Tower.  Throughout history many men of letters gathered at the Yellow Crane Tower and composed great essays and poems.  I smiled, for my dream of studying in China was fulfilled.  How amazing!                                                                                                 

Wuhan has four clearly distinctive seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. In Wuhan I experienced the charms and features of the four seasons. In autumn, there are yellow and red leaves all around. The city is well known for its great autumn sceneries featuring the “flame-like red leaves and yellow-gold leaves.” For a girl form Southeast Asia, I had longed for big snow in winter. Wuhan did not fail me. I saw snow last winter. It was so beautiful. I rushed to the stadium in high sprit and I made a snowman and had a snowball fight. For each foreign student, it was unforgettable happy time. When spring arrives and the cherry blossoms bloom in full glory. Wuhan becomes an ethereal realm, a picturesque fairyland. Due to the pandemic, I was away from Wuhan, thus unable to appreciate the cherry blossoms this spring. So I was even more eager to wait for next spring’s beautiful cherry blossoms.

If you have ever been to Wuhan, I believe you will fall in love with the city just like I did. Wuhan is not only a charming city with great attractions.  Its people are even more amazing. My teachers are so kind and considerate. When I completed my Chinese course, my class teacher hugged me. It was at that moment there grew in my heart a warm sense of kinship. Faculty of the Department of Ancient Chinese Literature at the School of Chinese Language and Literature consisted of highly qualified and well-learnt professors. Among them was my tutor. Their guidance and care had left me with a deep impression. Even the sirs and madams at the campus canteens were so attentive and friendly. They made me feel so warm and close to them. 

I remember when Wuhan was locked down, there was an overwhelming slogan at the Chinese media “We isolate diseases, but not love.” When the world had its eyes on Wuhan fighting at the epicenter of the pandemic, I checked my old photos in silence. These photos recorded my happy time with teachers and classmates. 

This city has become part of my youth. To me, Wuhan is truly a heroic city, which has tenaciously put the coronavirus under control and finally surmounted it. When trouble occurs at one spot, help comes from all quarters. Mobilized in solidarity, Chinese people plunged themselves into the fight against the pandemic, while overseas Chinese all over the globe made their due contributions to their motherland. In Wuhan, everyone shouldered his or her share of responsibility.  Everyone endured hardships and made silent efforts. Wuhan has long become my land of promise and pride. 

Due to the pandemic, I cannot return to my campus in Wuhan for the time being. I still enjoy looking at the moon. And quite often I will recite Li Bai’s poem Seeing Meng Haoran off at Yellow Crane Tower. I am so familiar with the places mentioned in the poem, for Wuhan has long become my second hometown:

My friend has left the west where the Yellow Crane towers,

For River Town veiled in green willows and red flowers.

His lessening sail is lost in the boundless blue sky,

Where I see but the endless River rolling by. 

The heroic city of Wuhan is the big family shared by all foreign students. I love Wuhan so much and I am looking forward to returning to the city!

Wuhan, wait me back!