In Shanghai, China
A teacher of Mathematics and Business left a sterling career. Another left behind a family. One sacrificed the comfort of close parental care at a crucial age, that fragile space between adolescence and adulthood, while another packed up a life she had already built.
All in pursuit of a dream more than 2,500 nautical miles away from home, in a foreign country, with foreign characters and foreign words.
For some, the price is leaving family. For others, like 20-year-old Kathomi Nyawira, it’s navigating adulthood on a whole new continent.
Across China’s sprawling cities — Shanghai, Wuhan, Beijing, Nanjing and Guangzhou — hundreds of young Kenyans are quietly building new academic and professional lives. Drawn by generous scholarships, globally competitive programmes, advanced research facilities and a sense of possibility, they are part of a fast-growing cohort reshaping Kenya–China educational ties.
Kathomi Nyawira, Architecture student at the Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan.
Photo credit: Pool
But beneath the glossy promise of opportunity lies a complex reality: cultural adaptation, academic pressure, loneliness and the daily negotiations of life in a country reshaping Africa and its children’s future.
“I’m experiencing adulting on a faraway continent, far away from my parents,” Kathomi says. And that is the price she is paying.
Just after turning 18, Kathomi packed her life into a suitcase and came to China. She is now a Bachelor of Architecture student at the Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan. She has just completed her first year, with four more to go.
Her first year was funded by a partial scholarship. But she now studies on a full one. She describes it as “an honestly God-given opportunity. It just came out of the blue and now I’m here.”
But she vividly remembers the moment her path opened, as if it happened yesterday, and explains that she is following in her father’s footsteps.
“My father is a self-employed architect and most of his clients are Chinese. One of his clients shared the application link and together we applied and were lucky to land the scholarship.”
Life in China, she says, has been better than she imagined. “Life in China is amazing. I can’t complain. I didn’t get any culture shock, except the weather. Summers can be too hot and winters can be extremely cold here.”
What has surprised her most is how embraced she feels. “Actually, Chinese people really appreciate you. They are so welcoming.”
So welcoming that she now jokes the real shock may hit when she eventually goes back home. “I feel that if I go home, I’ll get the culture shock,” she giggles. “The simplicity of life here is unmatched. And it’s so secure.”
Kathomi completed high school in 2022, took a gap year studying music and Mandarin, and joined university last year. Even before boarding her flight, she had already started learning Mandarin, though she admits she never took the classes “seriously” until she actually landed in Hubei. The familiarity helped.
Now, several months in, she says she can read and write Chinese characters. “I’m proud of how my Chinese has greatly improved.”
Still, home is far away. She misses the things she left behind, like her best friend, her circle and the old rhythm of life back home. In those moments, she turns to her mother.
“I just call my mum, and she gives me all the tea (gossip), and I tell her about life here and instantly feel better,” she says.
“If you plan on coming here, carry lots of spices and maize flour. They help, especially in moments when you’re still trying to fit in and when you miss home flavour… I liked and miss eating smocha.”
She finds the education system here refreshing. It pushes students beyond the classroom, she says. Here, you must participate in co-curriculars as much as you do in academics. Tennis, for instance, is a new love she discovered and now plays often.
But the biggest fascination remains her field. “I’m still amused by the architectural systems here. I wonder how long it would take before we get here… it is a mind-opening experience.”
While Kathomi is only beginning, others are wrapping up.
Hempstone Mabonga, a Masters student at Hubei University in Wuhan.
Photo credit: Pool
Hempstone Mabonga is on his final stretch and literally counting sunsets before his time in China concludes. He has been pursuing a Master of Science in Curriculum and Methodology at Hubei University since September 2023.
His journey began with a random opportunity advertised in a local daily two years ago. He applied, got accepted and joined a cohort of 58 other Kenyans who left for various universities and provinces across China. He calls it a “life-changing” chance to advance his studies.
He has flown back home only once, during a bereavement. Ordinarily, his scholarship provides a round-trip ticket only at the start and end of the programme.
When he first came to China, everything was foreign — language, weather, food and so much more. Then there’s the loneliness that comes with being far away from home, and “that really tests your ability to make friends”.
The academic experience, he says, is worlds apart from what he knew. The Chinese system demands discipline. Time management isn’t optional.
Thought of going back home
Assignments are many, class interactions are constant, and on top of it all, international students must learn Mandarin, which is taught and examined like any other course. Teaching, he notes, is “student-centred, not teacher-centred as is the case back home”.
“As a student on scholarship, the government gives a stipend for upkeep,” Mabonga says.
Now, standing at the edge of the end of a long two-year journey, he is convinced it has shaped him well. He says he feels “very prepared for the life ahead, thanks to the meticulous education here”.
Andrea Namwamba, a PhD student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Photo credit: Pool
Then there’s Andrea Namwamba, a teacher who came to Shanghai in 2016 to study Mandarin and never left. He loved the culture and fully immersed himself to the point that, by the end of his one-semester scholarship, he chose to remain behind and self-sponsor his studies.
He ended up specialising in Mandarin, having studied all the levels, then pursued a master’s degree, and now he is almost completing his PhD in new media studies.
He has since relocated his family to Shanghai. And, “in terms of adapting, it was okay because at least one of us could speak Chinese,” Namwamba explains.
“Shanghai is a very international city. You feel safe any day, any time. That level of security makes it easy. Food and all else — one adapts on the go.”
Generally, he observes, life is very convenient in China because “just by a tap of the screen you could solve anything”.
For him, being able to adapt to a new environment is all in the mindset and, of course, “a reliable support system, which my family is. Then there’s also support from school”.
But there are things he sometimes misses about Kenya, like “being able to step into a church and just sing your heart out”. The thought of going back home, however, is a mixed bag for him.
“There are things that make me miss Kenya — the weather, sometimes the food, the people, and mostly the culture and the Kenyan spirit of resilience.
Global reputation of Chinese universities
But there are things that I don’t miss at all, like constantly worrying about how safe you are when walking in Nairobi because you can easily be mugged… and other vices.”
Namwamba, an alumnus of the University of Nairobi, currently studying at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, having experienced both the Kenyan and Chinese education systems, says “there’s very little to compare”.
Universities in China are funded massively, he says. “The quality of studies here is in-depth and thorough, and not just about getting grades but being able to solve real-world problems… the quality assurance here is top-notch.”
In contrast, he argues, there “is so much emphasis on grades back home”.
A few months of scholarship became a lifetime for him. He now serves as chairperson of the Kenyan Students in Shanghai Association (Kesisa), an umbrella body for students studying in Shanghai Province.
Eddah Sure, a PhD student at Shanghai University.
Photo credit: Pool
Just like Namwamba, Eddah Sure’s decision to study in China was influenced by several factors.
First was the presence of the Confucius Institute at Moi University. That’s where she first learnt about China, the language and the culture. Then came her fascination with the strong global reputation of Chinese universities, especially in engineering and applied sciences.
“Learning the language gave me an opportunity to travel across cities in China for a summer camp programme and when I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, I was granted a Confucius Institute scholarship that got me here,” Ms Sure explains.
“I chose to do a research degree on AI in China because China is clearly winning the AI race and I wanted to immerse myself in the epicentre of innovation. Here, there is rapid advancement in areas like large-scale AI applications, data-driven technologies and government-backed initiatives that have shaped China into one of the world’s leading nations.”
She is among the lucky few who have had it easy coming to China. The Chinese teachers at the Confucius Institute at Moi University helped her with the application and the necessary documentation. That saw her join Donghua University for Chinese language studies and later a master’s degree in Information and Communication Engineering.
For as long as she can remember, she has had a strong interest in mathematics and sciences, consistently performing well in those subjects throughout her academic journey, especially in high school. As she progressed academically, she became particularly fascinated by how computing can be used to solve complex real-world problems, especially in science and engineering.
“When I decided to get into research, Computer Science stood out for me because it combines logical reasoning, problem-solving and creativity. This natural alignment of my strengths and interests led me to pursue a PhD in Computer Science at Shanghai University,” she explains.
As a Kenyan, she says, the list of cultural shocks is endless, but “top of the list, I’d say, is the food”, and in between, there are flashes of homesickness. To cope, she stays closely connected to the Kenyan community.
“In Shanghai alone, we have about 100 Kenyan students, and almost twice that number in the Kenyan working community. I join, and sometimes organise, Kenyan events in Shanghai and other cities just to get that home feeling, share a Kenyan meal, enjoy some of our Kenyan culture and just to check up on each other,” Sure says.
