HOHHOT, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Aruungoi has been studying at a high school in the city of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for three years, with a further 300 students from Mongolia, her home country.
"I could not speak any Chinese before I came," said Aruungoi, 18. "But now, I can communicate with locals with pretty fluent Chinese."
Furthermore, she has now won several awards in writing competitions the school organized for international students.
The No. 1 High School of Erenhot, where Aruungoi is studying, launched its international students department in 2006. It currently accommodates a total of 315 students from Mongolia.
Engkzul from Ulan Bato found the studying schedule a bit too busy when she first came Erenhot, the biggest Chinese city on the border with Mongolia.
"In Mongolia, school is pretty relaxing and there's no class in the afternoon. But here we need to get up at 5:40 a.m. in the morning and have classes all day long," she said.
But now she has got used to the busy routine and is determined to study Traditional Chinese Medicine in future.
Besides the compulsory courses, the school has arranged painting, music, and Chinese and Mongolian calligraphy classes for the Mongolian students, according to Bao Xiuhua, vice principal of the school.
"Chinese will be a very useful tool for us in the future," said Aruungoi, who is going to study business administration in Beijing Foreign Studies University this September.
According to Bao, more than 80 percent of overseas students in her high school will apply for Chinese universities after graduation.
"The most popular majors are Chinese language and international trade. They all want to contribute to the cooperation and communication between China and Mongolia with what they've learned here," Bao said.
Currently there are about 1,000 Mongolian students studying in Erenhot. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of Mongolian students in China reached 10,158 in 2018.
"I have two younger sisters, and I wish they will be able to study in China too," Aruungoi said.
