Close-ups of China

Nigerian Tochukwu Innocent Okeke (right) shopping for souvenirs in Wuyuan, Jiangxi province. [Photo by Lan Jian/For China Daily]

Svetlana Kharchenkova, a lecturer from the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, in the Netherlands, believes the Visiting Program for Young Sinologists is an excellent program for young scholars and PhD students.

"It's an intensive program with varied activities. It's important to interact with Chinese scholars who are in similar research areas. For example, we can read and discuss each other's work to develop further research," she says.

She is now writing a book about the development of the contemporary Chinese art market.

"The market didn't exist about 30 years ago, but now it's flourishing. I'm interested in these questions－how the market and the institutions were established? How did the auction houses and galleries emerge?" she says.

The visit to Jingdezhen also gave her inspiration, as she visited the art zone and porcelain studios there. She also enjoyed climbing the Sanqing Mountain, because the picturesque views reminded her of the traditional Chinese painting about landscapes.

"Imagine if we lived here, we would have the inspiration to make beautiful artworks, too. No wonder China has such wonderful traditional culture," she says.

She started to learn the Chinese language in 2000. Four years later, she made her first visit to China, studying Chinese at Peking University for a year.

"The internet was not so developed at that time. It was so much fun to meet Chinese people and see Chinese characters everywhere," she recalls.

She worked in Beijing from 2006 to 2008, witnessing the fast development of the capital before the Olympic Games, such as the further construction of the subway and the Beijing National Stadium.