A vehicle of culture

In September 2013, Bakhoum landed in Dalian City in northeast China’s Liaoning Province. Having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Foreign Languages, Bakhoum had a thirst for learning the local language, aware of the fact that “language is the vehicle of culture.”

The city won him over at first sight. “It is a city that made a strong impression on me. Dalian is located on a peninsula and reminded me of Dakar or Saint-louis, respectively the present and former capitals of my country. It was like having a bit of Senegal in China,” he told Chinafrica.

Bakhoum is a strong advocate of increasing student exchanges between the two countries, especially for culture and language learning. He noted that China offers a generous number of scholarships to foreign students as well as training courses for international teachers.

Indeed, for Bakhoum, “cooperation makes it possible for people to understand each other.” In fact, his