Teaching in the midst of war

Yet, it was during his two years as a postgraduate student at Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, Gansu province, that he felt China's history come alive. "The region, though humble in development, is thickly layered with history — of China taking shape, of China defending itself, and of China reaching out to the world," he reflects.

In February 2010, right in the middle of China's Spring Festival, Abdalla boarded a long-distance train so packed that the only ticket he could secure was a standing one. "The carriage was a sea of bodies, with barely any room to move. Yet, people found small ways to care for themselves and one another — whoever went to dampen a towel or buy snacks would gladly do so for those nearby," he recalls.

A few hours into the journey, Abdalla found himself singing along with fellow passengers to the Chinese song Friends Together, Side by Side, its melody spilling from mobile phones.

"That song was the very first Chinese song Badawi ever taught me — the first I ever learned," says Mustafa. "I was fortunate to meet him — he enrolled me in the Chinese Language Department in 2013, when competition was fierce, with over 200 students vying for just 50 places.

"Back then, I worked hard, but the dormitory I shared was rarely quiet. Badawi let me use his office to study and would even bring me food late at night. I trusted him so much that once I even broke down in tears before him," continues Mustafa, who later came to China to study. "I used to wonder why Badawi was different — it's untypical for Sundanese teachers to be close to their students — until I came here. His character and conduct bear the imprint of his encounters with China and with Chinese teachers. As an educator, he internalized those experiences, made them his own, and then gifted them to us."

For Abdalla, teaching and learning were inseparable — two sides of the same coin, united by a single mission: seeking truth for the future.

"When I saw parents bringing their young children to campus, and the library still full even late at night, I knew I had found the right place," says Abdalla, who became a doctoral candidate at Tsinghua University in 2017. His research centers on Lu Xun (1881-1936), the towering figure of modern Chinese literature, who, as a medical student in Japan, turned from science after witnessing his nation's plight, devoting his life instead to awakening and rescuing it through words — a path that resonates deeply with Abdalla's own journey.