The year was 2017. Alina Kurowski had just finished high school. She stood at the crossroads familiar to so many young Germans. Should she leave Germany for Australia, on a working holiday? Should she travel across the United States, perhaps staying in hostels? After weighing her alternatives, she chose a much-less-obvious option. In fact, her choice was anything but ordinary. What was her decision? Believe it or not, Alina, then 18, bought a one-way ticket to China, so she could attend a martial arts school, on Yuntai Mountain, in central China's Henan Province. At that time, she couldn't speak a word of Chinese. All she had to guide her was her memory of a Chinese martial-arts demonstration, by performers visiting from China, a few months earlier. That performance planted a seed of curiosity in her heart.
Now, nine years after her trip to China, she answers to a melodious Chinese name, Yang Linghui, is married to a Chinese man, and teaches Chinese in Hamburg, Germany.
Life-Changing Journey
Linghui's connection to China began with a Chinese-martial-arts performance, which she witnessed during the spring of 2017. Having practiced martial arts in Germany for three years, she was utterly spellbound when she watched the live martial-arts demonstration, performed by Chinese visiting Germany.
"I was blown away," she recalls, excitedly. "German martial-arts shows cannot compare with it." Linghui eventually learned the Chinese saying, "One minute on stage takes 10 years of practice off stage." Inspired by that axiom, Linghui vowed to one day visit China to study Chinese martial arts.
Linghui arrived at the martial-arts school, on Yuntai Mountain, in August 2017. The training was far tougher than she had imagined, and the days were exhausting, as she practiced from 6 am to 8 pm daily. She readily admits she had considered throwing in the towel and returning to Germany during the first week. "After having trained just the first day, I couldn't even get out of bed the next morning. My whole body ached," she recalls. The first week was pure misery, she says, because she couldn't speak Chinese, the heat was suffocating, and the food was alien to her palate.
Martial arts, however, is primarily physical. Compared with the Chinese (Mandarin) language, martial arts is much more straightforward. Sometimes, without too many words, Linghui could understand the instructor from a few gestures; so, keeping pace with the instructor wasn't a problem, but mental endurance was. While the basic drills — including horse stances, splits and standing posts — looked simple, serious grit was needed to master the exercises. Each move had to be repeated, over and over, until it was just right. By the end of each day, Linghui's muscles screamed in protest — and she was exhausted. At times like that, it was sheer willpower that kept Linghui going. Many of the other students opted to quit because they couldn't cope with the hardships.
Linghui, though, was determined. One day, she hiked up Songshan Mountain, in Henan Province, with some of her classmates, and while at the top she resolved not to leave. "Standing on the summit, looking at that breathtaking view, I thought how wonderful it would be to see China in the autumn, winter and spring," she recalls. Slowly, she settled into the rhythm of the early mornings and long days of practicing. She also made friends, and she grew closer to her coaches. Resilience, though, was her primary gain from the martial-arts school; in essence, she developed the characteristic of refusing to give up easily. That new-found spirit made her stronger and more confident — and more aware of her own potential. It would later prove invaluable in her studies and career.
During her downtime, Linghui loved to chat with her teachers and fellow students, from across China. She listened to their stories, and she learned about ancient Chinese traditions, such as the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Through such casual conversations, and daily activities, Linghui gained a vivid understanding of Chinese culture, one far richer than anything she learned while reading textbooks. Linghui had originally planned to stay in China for three months; after she was immersed in the culture, she opted to extend her stay to nine months.
After she completed those nine, joyful months at the martial-arts school, Linghui realized she wanted more; in particular, she wanted to truly grasp the nuances of the Chinese language, to communicate freely with her Chinese friends and mentors, and to delve deeper into the country's profound cultural heritage. So, she moved to Beijing to study Chinese. Later, she enrolled at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), where she majored in Chinese-language studies.
Learning Chinese, however, proved every bit as challenging as learning martial arts. Linghui says the tones used in Mandarin are the biggest hurdle. Why? The four-tone system, she says, is utterly foreign to a German. "I didn't take the tones seriously at first," she admits. "Later, I found they mattered more and more, so I had to go back and relearn everything from scratch." Linghui says she found learning martial arts and learning Chinese have one thing in common. "It's not about talent, it's about attitude. You have to give it everything you've got," Linghui says.
The grounding sense of connection she found while studying Mandarin caused her to fall in love with the Chinese language. "After a while, I could actually talk to people around me, teachers, shop assistants, Chinese friends. Understanding what they said, and having real conversations, made me more and more passionate about learning Chinese," Linghui recalls. As the saying goes, hard work pays off. Not only did her language skills soar, but she also found love along the way.
Love and Marriage
After she graduated from BFSU, in 2023, Linghui's life took yet another major turn — she married Ren Hao, a Chinese man.
Her first impression of "Chinese men" was derived from her first impression of Ren, the man who would become her husband. "When we first met, I casually mentioned I wasn't feeling well, maybe catching a cold. Ren immediately brought me medicine," Linghui recalls. In Germany, she most likely would not have received that kind of care from someone. "That kind of gesture surprised me because, in my experience, Germans tend to be more direct. If someone isn't feeling well, they often wait until the person asks for help. Ren didn't wait — he simply showed up with medicine," she explains. It was that thoughtfulness, and Ren's initiative, that made her feel genuinely cherished in China.
But a cross-cultural marriage isn't all romance. Misunderstandings, especially sparked by linguistic and cultural differences, were frequent, even during their first date. Linghui shares a specific example with her students: Confusion, stemming from use of the Chinese words "好 (hao)," "好啊 (hao a)" and "好吧 (hao ba)." To her ear, the words seemed to mean roughly the same thing; in reality, however, the tones and intonations conveyed different attitudes. When her future husband invited her on their first date, she replied with "好吧 (hao ba)," believing it meant an enthusiastic "sure!" She later discovered that many Chinese speakers hear it as a rather reluctant "okay."
Their individual understanding of "family," derived from their experiences in their respective cultures, can also be a source of confusion. "In Germany, marriage is all about building your own little unit," Linghui explains. "In China, marriage is seen as the union of two families." She gets along wonderfully with her mother-in-law. "Every time we go back to China, she asks me in advance what I'd like to eat, and she plans the dishes accordingly. She shows her love through cooking," Linghui says.
Linghui maintains many Chinese habits, even though she has returned to Germany. For example, she drinks hot water, every day, generally eats warm meals, and prefers Chinese tea to coffee. Also, her wardrobe is filled primarily with new Chinese-style fashion clothes. "Every time I go to China, either for work or to visit family, I take an empty suitcase, and I fill it to the brim with Chinese clothes, handicrafts and other treasures to bring back to Germany," she says.
Sharing Chinese Culture in Hamburg
Linghui returned to Germany, to begin working as a Chinese teacher at Konfuzius-Institut Hamburg, in November 2023. She regularly organizes workshops in traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy, tea tasting and so on, and she helps organize and promote concerts and celebrations of Chinese festivals. It is her way to give Germans an authentic taste of Chinese culture. "All of our events are free," she emphasizes. "Everyone is welcome, regardless of age. Students, seniors and working adults, anyone can come." Even though globalization has brought the world closer together, Linghui says many Germans still know very little about China. She wants to give them a chance to experience China in their own city.
Linghui says teaching Chinese is deeply fulfilling. Many of her students have said Chinese is "the world's hardest language," but Linghui wants them to discover "learning Chinese can also be fun." One of her students, without any foundation in the Chinese language, studied for two years, passed the HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) Level 3 and attended the 2025 China summer camp organized by Linghui. That student is now preparing to study at Fudan University, in Shanghai. Chinese is an ancient, and endlessly fascinating, language, Linghui says, adding, a lifetime is not enough time to master the language. "I want to help more Germans learn Chinese, and to explore China's profound cultural heritage, so they, too, can fall in love with the language and the country, just like I did," Linghui says.
She has witnessed China's rapid transformation firsthand. "Every time I go back, I see new subway lines, new buildings, or new parks," Linghui says. China, she adds, is a country that never stops evolving. "Whether it's a nation or an individual, what really matters is how you tackle problems. The ability to keep learning, and keep improving, that's what counts," she says.
Linghui takes German teenagers, aged 14 to 19, to China, to attend summer camp, every year. She believes the best way to understand a country is to see it with your own eyes. "I hope they get to know the real China," Linghui says, "and after they come back, they can share with their friends and family what they actually saw."
Linghui has most recently immersed herself in the art of Chinese tea ceremony. "I just ran a tea-tasting event, and I found it so fascinating that I can't stop. I want to learn more and more," she says. From a German woman, who couldn't utter a single word in Chinese, to a teacher, spreading Chinese culture in Hamburg, Linghui's journey has taken nine years. "I hope I can always keep an open and flexible mind, keep learning and grow wiser every day," Linghui says. That is the wish contained in the Chinese name she chose for herself — Linghui, meaning "agile and wise."
Photos from Interviewee
(Women of China English Monthly August 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
