Recently, two international students from our univeristy won the "Golden Card Nomination Award" in My Story with China Speech Competition organized by the CPC Beijing Municipal Education Committee, aiming to encourage students from home and abroad to share stories of the new era with China.

Suleiman Abdalla Moh'd（苏莱曼） from Tanzania and Arielle Noel（诺阿）from Haiti tell about their experiences in inner Mongolian and their thoughts on China's rural revitalization as well as BFU's countribution to it through videos entitled “Feel the charm of Xing'an and research the common prosperity of countryside”(《感受兴安魅力，探访乡村共富》) and“Take you to Xing'an and visit Inner Mongolia together" (《带你一起游兴安，访内蒙》) respectively. They said that they feel proud for China's achivements in countryside development.

The event was jointly organized and promoted by the Division of CPC Public Media and the International College of BFU. Participating in the series of "Telling China's stories well and making China's voice heard globally" of the International College, the international students of BFU were organized to experience the great achievements of China's ecological civilization development and rural revitalization.

Following are the speeches of the two prizewinners.

Feel the charm of Xing'an and research the common prosperity of countryside

Suleiman Abdalla Moh'd

My name is Suleiman, I am an international student from Beijing Forestry University, and I participated in the social practice activities in Xing'an League of Inner Mongolia at the end of August this year. I deeply felt the changes brought by China's poverty alleviation policy and rural revitalization strategy to China's rural areas. Now I would like to tell you what I have seen and heard.

We went to Xing'an in Inner Mongolia to learn how China is doing poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. We found out that China has achieved great success in rural revitalization, especially in education, industry, talent, ecology and cultural revitalization. We participated in the "4th Forage Industry Expo" and exchanged ideas with local Chinese leaders, not only to learn a lot about the forage industry, but also to learn about their strategies and goals for revitalizing China's development. We followed the first secretary of Beijing Forestry University in Hongqi Village, Keyuqian Banner, to participate in the "Theme Party Day" activities in Hongqi Village, to learn about the poverty alleviation and revitalization plan of Hongqi Village, and to visit the poor families in Hongqi Village together.

We also exchanged ideas with the young teachers from Beijing Forestry University who are teaching in Beijing this year. We visited Ulan Maodu Middle School, Hongqi Village Kindergarten and Yilalit Flower Town where they are teaching, and had a pleasant and relaxing time with the local teachers and students. We communicated with the "hometown" college students and local youth cadres and got to know more about their working style. I was impressed by their spirit of actively participating in the revitalization of the countryside and actively contributing to their hometown.

It was a great practice for me because it was the first time in my life that I rode a horse, the first time that I saw the great weather and scenery of Inner Mongolia, and the first time that I got to know and understand the people of Inner Mongolia up close and experience their culture and food. I wish I could have more opportunities to learn how China is developing and then build my country better. Through this practical activity, I was exposed to a new environment and made new friends, and through their eyes, I saw the light of hope for the future development of the Chinese nation. As a young person of their generation, I hope I can walk side by side with them and grow up to be the person our country needs, although I have a different nationality and a different cultural background!

I hope that in the future, we can make progress together, and I also hope that our friendship can be long-lasting, and we can contribute to China's rural revitalization work through our own efforts!

Take you to Xing'an and visit Inner Mongolia together

Arielle Noel

"I came, I saw, I conquered" is a famous sentence that many people have heard, but I would say: "I went, I saw, I was conquered."

Recently, we went to Inner Mongolia to do a social practice with the International College (of BFU), and at first I thought it would be boring, but when I arrived I found that it was not the case. People were very welcoming, many of them were a bit curious to meet foreigners for the first time and were very nice to us, eager to know us and communicate with us. The scenery is breathtaking, the people seem calm and not in a hurry about anything as if their lives are free of any stress. The roads are empty with few cars so there is no traffic jam, which I really like. This place makes me feel at home.

Many foreigners, when they think of China only think of big cities like Shanghai and Beijing and forget about the smaller ones, which also have sound infrastructure. Inner Mongolia has always been on my wish list, so when I and another student were given the chance to go to the place, I was excited not only because the trip is for free, but also I knew I would learn a lot since our teachers would go with us who could be our tour guides. A lot of times when I go to visit historical sites and cultural attractions, I can do nothing but take pictures because there is no one who can explain to me what I need to know. But this time was different, it was amazing. During that trip, I not only learned a lot about traditional Chinese culture and history but also learned about the spark within each person, which makes them unique Inner Mongolians. Through discussions with people almost the same age as me, I realized that even though we have different backgrounds, we always have something in common because we are young with a lot of energy and national spirit, we are the future of our countries.

I had been hesitant to go home to make investments or do other something, but I was so impressed by their words that my mind changed. Now, I think I must go back home because I realized that even very insignificant ideas. If we can put it into practice and stick to it, we can make a big difference, any small change is worthwhile.mI should do what I can do, others will do what they can do, and together we will make a difference. It may take time but everything has its beginning. These young people traveled far to study, to become intellectually, physically and mentally stronger, and then return to their hometown to give back to their community. What a wonderful spirit that is.

In addition, as we all know, Inner Mongolia is famous for its grasslands, seeing how people use them in many ways, feeding goats, cows, etc., producing crops and providing visitors with stunning scenery has given me many ideas about building my hometown, and although it is just an idea now, it is like a seed, which I am sure will germinate one day. What I love most when traveling is the food, and I wish I could stay longer to enjoy more, because the meat here is delicious and is one of the specialties. It is remarkable that the milk tea is not like what I am used to taste, it is salty instead of sweet. Although I like the sweet ones, the salty one was tasty as well.

We had the opportunity to see one of our school teachers working here, and he is working so hard with the local people to build a better city. Nothing in life is easy, but if you decide to bring about change, nothing can stop you. Seeing them at work made me realize that with only ideas but no action, then we can only stay where we are forever.

One thing that really impressed me was the met with Teacher Wang, he was cool but humble, he was down to earth and very smart, I loved the interaction with him, and his patience for all of us during the time. It's no surprise that the people there loved him.

In closing, I would like to say that I never expected to be so satisfied before the trip. I learned so much that it pushed me to eager to learn more about other cities and different cultures and I think I will listen to their stories with an open mind. It was an experience that I will never forget and I hope to share my experience with as many people as possible.

Thank you everyone of International College of BFU, the teachers, the students I went with, the people who hosted us there and all those who contributed to making our trip as good as possible.