To many young people overseas, China is often reduced to a grand narrative in the news or a development miracle found in statistics. Few have felt the real texture of this land. Jood Ghazwan Sharaf, a Bulgarian PhD researcher at Tsinghua University, forged a bond with China through the sweeping world of Chinese costume dramas.

Encouraged by her grandmother, she traveled across the world to pursue her doctorate in China, evolving from an international relations researcher to a cultural storyteller, dedicated to showing the world the vivid, lively, and deeply humane stories of ordinary Chinese people.

Jood's journey began with a warm, family-centered connection to Chinese culture.

Before arriving in China, she completed her undergraduate and master's degrees at King's College London in the UK. Though she had taken specialized courses on China, her most formative impressions came not from academic textbooks, but from the screen.

She developed a deep fondness for wuxia (martial heroes), xianxia (immortal heroes), and historical dramas, drawn in by the exquisite costumes, beautiful sets, well-crafted plots, and nuanced characters. "I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen," she recalled.

What made this love for Chinese dramas even more special was that she shared it with her grandmother, a computer and data science researcher.

The pair began watching Chinese dramas together in 2018. Their favorite series, The Long Ballad starring Dilraba Dilmurat, stood out for its focus on female resilience and growth.

Her grandmother was particularly impressed with the meaningful and value-driven themes of Chinese dramas: family bonds, national politics and female growth, which stood in stark contrast to the romance-centric narratives common in Western productions.

It was her grandmother who also helped Jood make the decision to move to China.

"My grandma has always been very passionate about women working hard to achieve what they want and especially studying hard if you have that ability. So she encouraged me to move to China," she shared.

In 2022, Jood enrolled at Tsinghua University to pursue her PhD, shifting her research focus to China's diplomacy and its role in the global international relations system — a field she has now studied for nearly three and a half years.

However, her early days at Tsinghua were fraught with challenges. With virtually no grasp of the Chinese language, she struggled to follow Mandarin-taught courses, and technical academic terms posed an especially steep barrier.

To overcome this, she built a rigorous study routine, with two stacks of books always on her desk: English literature on China studies, and original Chinese academic works. This process went far beyond simple language learning — she built her own research vocabulary.

She also credits the immense support from her Tsinghua professors, classmates, and the university's supportive academic environment for helping her through this difficult period.

Jood's on-the-ground experience in China shaped her understanding of the country, moving far beyond the rigid frameworks of Western academia.

"A lot of western theorists try to use their worldview and their cultures from the west and apply to China, and they don't see China the way that it actually is," she noted.

Her study experience in China taught her that while China has its own unique economic development and political model, it doesn't try to force other countries to follow China. "In that way, it's very kaifang baorong (open and inclusive)," she said.

The word "humane" has been a recurring theme in Jood's reflections on China.

She notes that many overseas perspectives regard China as a "big foreign concept". It is only after living in China that one can truly feel the genuine warmth of human connections that define daily life here, according to her.

"What I found very heartwarming was that there are a lot of Chinese people who are very humane," she said.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Jood is also active in front of the camera, documenting the real, warm side of China.

She has traveled to Hainan, filmed Qiong opera and Li brocade, visited craftsmen who uphold traditional skills, and recorded ordinary people's lifelong dedication. At a time when global narratives are often dominated by geopolitics and data, she insists on one thing: refusing to view people as cold statistics.

"Everybody has a story. No matter if you're from a village, from a big city, or from whatever country, that story is important."

She believes it is her responsibility to help others see China as a humane place.

"Living and studying in China, I have changed from a curious, distant observer to an integrated participant. In the future, I am willing to continue being a devoted decoder and a warm connector between China and the world."