With spring in full bloom, the campus is filled with the scent of books. At the 2026 “Scholarly ZJU” Reading Culture Festival held recently, Sudanese international student ABUBAKER ELSIDDIG AHMED ELMUSTAFA ELSHEIKH HAYATY was invited as a student representative to witness this important campus cultural event.At the ceremony, ABUBAKER received a selection of books from University President MA YANMING, and together with university leaders, reading mentors, and other student representatives, he helped launch the 2026 Reading Culture Festival themed “Wenrun Qiushi, Scholarly ZJU.”

Through books as a bridge, ABUBAKER experienced the richness of Chinese culture on campus, while also showing how international students actively engage in campus life and enjoy the spirit of “Reading China.”

ABUBAKER is from Sudan and is a 2023 PhD student in the “New Sinology Program,” majoring in Journalism and Communication. Alongside his research, he works with the Zhejiang International Communication Center as a global ambassador for Chinese culture.Ahead of the 2025 World Chinese Language Conference, President Xi Jinping replied to young Sinologists, encouraging them to serve as bridges between Chinese and global civilizations. As one of the recipients of the reply, ABUBAKER was invited to speak at the conference in November 2025, where he shared his academic insights and stories about China.

[Voices of International Students]

I am truly honored to have been invited to the Wenrun Qiushi, Scholarly ZJU Reading Culture Festival, and to have received books from the university president. As a PhD candidate in the College of Media and International Culture, I am filled with profound emotion. The books I received serve as a reminder of how knowledge should be structured. The pursuit of knowledge lies not in disciplinary boundaries, but in the connections between different fields of understanding. I would especially like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Wu Fei. With his intellectual integrity rooted in the spirit of Seeking Truth and his dedication to academic pursuit, he has preserved for me a space in which thought may remain slow.

— ABUBAKER ELSIDDIG AHMED ELMUSTAFA ELSHEIKH HAYATY
 PhD Student in Journalism and Communication (Class of 2023), Sudan