Across China: A Pakistani student's march towards university as epidemic retreats

After a trip of a little over five hours, 27-year-old Pakistani student Imran Ali arrived at his university in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

"I finally made it," Imran said with excitement.

It has been the longest winter vacation since Imran came to Taiyuan University of Technology for postgraduate study.

In January, Imran visited his brother in Xi'an, a city 600 km away from Taiyuan, for a short stay. However, schools in China postponed the opening of the new semester due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

As a result, his short stay in his brother's dormitory was extended to three months long.

"I was worried at the beginning. But as China has initially contained the epidemic, my concern was soon shifted to my study," said Imran. He is going to graduate this spring semester, but all of his research data and materials were stored in his laptop back at school.

At first, Imran thought the whole semester would be suspended. "I was surprised that China had contained the spread of the virus so fast. Now that I'm back, I'm happy that my graduation will not be affected," he said.

Taiyuan University of Technology was among the first universities to resume classes in Shanxi. From April 10 to 16, more than 9,000 students in their final year were scheduled to come back from all over the country.

Imran called a taxi in the morning on April 10 to Xi'an North Railway Station, and that was his first time to leave his brother's campus over the past three months. Before that, no one was allowed to pass through the school gate unless he or she had a compelling reason.

"I spent five hours on the way. It was also a unique opportunity for me to witness and experience how China implemented its strict epidemic prevention and control measures, which made me realize why China was able to contain the outbreak," Imran said.

"From the railway station to the dormitory, there were always people who took my temperature. If someone's temperature was high, medics would take over immediately," Imran said.

What's more, travelers were required to present their personal "health code" on Alipay, Alibaba's online payment service, to demonstrate their health conditions.

"Everyone was wearing masks and social distancing. In a country with a population of 1.4 billion, it is unimaginable. But everyone does follow the government's suggestion," Imran said.

"We're still not allowed to leave campus freely, but canteens, stores and barbershops on the campus are open, so I can concentrate on finishing my thesis and applying for a PhD," he said.

Last semester, Imran was considering applying for a PhD in Australia, but he changed his mind recently. "China has initially contained the spread of the virus, which makes me feel safe," said Imran, who has reached out to Xi'an Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In Imran's motherland Pakistan, the novel coronavirus is still spreading. Fortunately, no one in his family was infected.

"My grandfather and mother asked me for advice, and I told them what I have seen and done in China," Imran said. "China's achievement has proven that the virus is not invincible. The international community should adopt China's experience."

"The number of confirmed cases is surging globally. The virus is the common enemy of mankind, and we should put aside political prejudice and fight it as a whole," Imran said.

Imran has recorded what he has seen in China over the past months and planned to publish after graduation. "There were some misunderstandings towards China during the outbreak, and I want people around the world to see what is going on here," he said.