Being an Indian girl, I , Swastika Paul, had my childhood days filled with variety of toys, and the first thing which got into my head after analyzing every toy was the “Made in China” inscription. I used to ask my parents that why every toy had this inscription, to which they replied that, ‘Oh, because the Chinese manufacturing industry is Number 1 in world and its huge and they produce very nice goods, moreover India and China have great friendly relationship in terms of marketing businesses’. Later I found out that it’s not only about toys, be it Chinese cuisine, cosmetics, electronic gadget or anything, Chinese products are famous in every corner of India. But when I used to come across some Chinese characters, it always allured me to know their origin but needless to say that I was scared at the same time as it is considered as the toughest language in the world. I have never thought of getting an opportunity even in my dreams of studying in China. But God has some different plans for me. My fate gave me an opportunity to pursue PhD in China. I previously had studied Microbiology in my bachelors and masters but I chose medicinal chemistry for my PhD as it is one of the renowned field of research in China. I am deeply thankful to my professors who backed my choice and selected me to work in their lab, giving me an opportunity even in my dreams of studying in China. But God has some different plans for me. My fate gave me an opportunity to pursue PhD in China. I previously had studied Microbiology in my bachelors and masters but I chose medicinal chemistry for my PhD as ti is one of the renowned field of research in China. I am deeply thankful to my professors who backed my choice and selected me to work in their lab, giving me an opportunity to learn and start my scientific venture in this exciting field. Yunnan, a province with a tag of biodiversity hotspot is home to more than 50% of China’s plant as well as vertebrate species. And having a world class institute like KIB in this province influenced me to work in this field of medicinal chemistry without having any second thoughts. The environment around this institute is in itself a model system for working on any topic related to nature. Moreover, the true beauty of nature here is very refreshing and encourages everyone to continue working in their respecitive field by providing a different sort of energy to get over frustrations. 

　　Initially, my lab mates were not used to communicate much in English. It was very difficult for me to get along with them. But gradually I somehow started conversing with them more during my work and became friendlier with them. They also dedicatedly taught me the basics of phytochemistry and always guided me in my experiments. Now I have started to get a grasp of something out of this subject though not everything but I feel lucky to have lab mates (my only ‘friends’ here) who despite of the language barrier, tried their best to show me the research directions. Though we like to prepare our food in home every day, but as I am a bit foodie, so it’s hard to resist the temptations of all the delicious and unique Chinese cuisine. I like their way of cooking, especially various types of noodles like flour and bean noodles in different sizes, rice noodles, Iamian noodles, Hui mian and Daoxiao mian noodles etc. It’s really amazing to see how the cooks here use only handful of 5 different spices and their combinations to create numerous flavours. I never knew so many varieties and flavours of noodles before coming to China. I learned to use chopstick which was very difficult initially but got hold of it eventually after practicing. Apart from noodles, traditional dishes like baozi, jiaozi with their different stuffing inside are one of the top pickings from my Chinese menu. I find the cooking of fish here very interesting because it is different from the way Indians cook, like the Hongshao yu, full fish in a pan with different sauces over it, sounds pretty tasty, isn’t it? The soothing taste of mushroom chicken and other meat preparations are so heavenly that it is worth a fight for the last piece of it. Mouthwatering hot and spicy barbeques and Hotpot during winter season has become some of my favourite dishes in China, as you can’t find a healthier way to keep your body warm in chilly winter. But one thing of China which is world famous other than the Great Wall of China is Tea. The variety of tea and their flaor available in this country is tremendous. Here, tea is equivalent to water for the native citizens. And actually, drinking this indigenous green tea is much more refreshing than water and an elixir to the thirst. Some varieties of tea and other food items which I brought to India in my home during vacation got so much acceptance such that next time, whenever I will be returning to India, I have to carry a separate rucksack to meet the demands of my family for the tastes of different Chinese food items!! 

　　The people of this country are very cooperative, generous and kind irrespective of their field of expertise and background. Based on my experiences of my daily interaction with the locals, I must say that the management and governance system is flawless in every aspect. Among many incidents, one which made me believe my above statement was the accident of my husband. My husband in order to save an elderly woman’s life, fell down from the two wheeler and ended up with a torn ligament in the left knee. I was terrified at that moment and was feeling helpless being in a foreign country. But, the cooperation and systematic treatment in the hospital even in weekend holidays gave me my night’s sleep back. The type of facilities, medication, availability of the doctors and care taken by the nurses made me believe that my husband will again stand and walk on his own after some month’s rest. Hearing about the accident, my father came rushing in Kunming from India for supporting and helping me, in not so known place. In the 3 months times of his stay, he too realized that how good the people are and appreciated the systematic treatment, management system and the biodiversity of this place. 

　　Besides lab, on weekends and holidays we visited many paces in Kunming like Yuantong Temple: the famous Buddhist temple, Green Lake, Dianchi Lake along with Western Hills mountain, Kunming falls park, Bird and Flower market and some famous streets and restaurants like Dongfeng Square and Wengling Jie. I also went to some famous tourist places like Stone Forest, Jiu Xiang, Fuxian Lake. Dali, Lijiang and Shangrila. The transport system in China is so convenient such that the traveling becomes very comfortable and easy. Though there is always some language problem but if you can speak a little of their language then that is enough to enjoy a pleasant ride. All the places are clean and well maintained and though so many people come to visit but there is no crowded situation in any place. The nature is well conserved, beautifully nourished and maintained by the common people themselves. I was fortunate enough to visit the capital city of China, Beijing, which is also one of the famous heritage cities of the World, in order to pursue Chinese Language course. I am very thankful to both of my tutors who taught us Chinese language as they are the ones because of whom I am able to win over my childhood fear of Chinese language characters. It was so noble of them that they bore with us every day and guided us to the successive milestones of Chinese learning through different activities and put a lot of hard work behind us. It was more interactive than rather just teaching. After this course, not only in the class but later in our daily lives we now try to incorporate few learnt words, sentences in Chinese while talking to each other. 

　　There I also got the opportunity to visit ‘The Great Wall’, Olympics Stadium Park famous as “Niaochao”, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Ruins of Yuanmingyuan and the Summer Palace. As it may seem that I have visited a lot of places in China but as compare to the whole China, this is nothing. 

　　I really feel it’s a great opportunity to do research in China because here Government provide lot of fund and appreciate for doing research and also lot of good papers can be published under internationally reputed professors. I feel blessed to do research under my professors, Prof. Yongping Yang who introduced to my Supervisor Prof. Jijun Chen and Prof. Chang-An Geng who always guide me in my experiments. Last but not least, I am proud to be one of the students in University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and I am thankful to Chinese Scholarship Council for giving international candidates such a nice opportunity to pursue Phd and providing us with such wonderful facilities.