Raissa interacts with her friends before performing at the 12th Chinese Bridge proficiency competition for foreign secondary school students in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Oct. 24, 2019. Seventeen-year-old Raissa was born and bred in the Comoros, an island country in the Indian Ocean. In 2016, Raissa's grandmother was cured by doctors of the Chinese medical team in Africa. Raissa then developed a strong emotional connection with China, which prompted her to learn Chinese at the local Confucius Institute with unremitting endeavors. On the preliminary contest of the 12th Chinese Bridge proficiency competition for secondary school students in the Comoros this year, Raissa won the championship. Thus she got the chance to visit China for the first time as she came to Zhengzhou to attend the second-round competition. Raissa sang the Chinese song "Wish You Safe and Well" on the second-round competition. "It is also my sincere wish for the people of China and the Comoros," said Raissa. Sheerly fascinated by Chinese culture, Raissa has taken part in various activities on traditional Chinese medicine and folk arts during her stay in Zhengzhou. "My dream is to study medicine in China so that I could cure patients like the Chinese doctors who treated my grandmother," said Raissa. (Xinhua/Li Jianan)
