Friendship across Himalayas

Language learners bring civilisations together.

- Hou Chenchen and Shao Xinying report

Yang Rui (left) with Mandarin-learning Indian students before the statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, at the university named after him, in New Delhi, in April.

With a masala dosa in hand, Yang Rui, 21, began a lightning-fast exploration of India, just one day. The Chinese student boarded the Hyderabad Metro to the English and Foreign Languages University, eager to dive into a culture he could experience outside textbooks.

During a Hindi literature class, Yang eagerly listened and asked questions until an Indian student turned to him and asked, “Does your hometown have Indian culture?”

Yang paused and thought for a moment. Then he began to narrate the legend of the golden-winged bird from his Bai ethnic community in Yunnan province, Southwest China.

He spoke of how, according to folklore, a giant bird crossed the mighty Himalayas and arrived at Erhai Lake in Dali, Yunnan. There it was woven into the spiritual beliefs and artistic expressions of the Bai people, becoming a symbol of strength and divinity across generations.

Yang said the bird was inspired by Garuda, the mythical bird deity revered across India and much of South and Southeast Asia.

The room filled with inquisitive students who wanted to know ever more, intrigued by the cultural overlap between China and India.