As a featured segment of the 2026 China Internet Media Forum, a thematic forum - Telling Story Well: From Empathetic Communication to Cultural Identity - will be held on March 28 in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, bringing together global content creators to share their unique experiences and personal journeys.

Among the invited speakers is Martina Sicuso, the content creator behind the popular social media account "Yang Friend". Martina will share her personal experience of studying in China.

Martina's connection with China began in her fourth year of high school, when she was 17 years old. To improve her grades, she decided to enroll in an afternoon Chinese language course. She was captivated by the pictographic nature of Chinese characters—for example, the shape of "山" (mountain) which looks just like a mountain. "I thought Chinese was amazing," she said. In the following six years, she obtained a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in oriental languages.