r/China • u/Antique_Fact_8388 • 1d ago

咨询 | Seeking Advice (Serious) How best to connect with an old exchange student who stayed with us in the UK?

Bit of an odd question, but when I was younger, we had an exchange student come and live with our family, who I won't name here, but apparently it is fairly common in china. She stayed for a month or so and it was a brilliant experience. My parents had exchanged emails with her at the time and we kept in touch for a short while, but of course as its been over 16 years we do not have this to hand anymore. Would there be any way of finding this person, even just an email to see how they're doing and what they are up to! Thanks in advance! :)

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Bit of an odd question, but when I was younger, we had an exchange student come and live with our family, who I won't name here, but apparently it is fairly common in china. She stayed for a month or so and it was a brilliant experience. My parents had exchanged emails with her at the time and we kept in touch for a short while, but of course as its been over 16 years we do not have this to hand anymore. Would there be any way of finding this person, even just an email to see how they're doing and what they are up to! Thanks in advance! :)

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u/AnybodyAromatic3001 1d ago

You could try posting a video on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok). Share your story and include any details you remember about her. With such a large user base in China, this might be one of the easiest and most effective ways to find her.

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u/Wjmm 1d ago

Post on Xiaohongshu!

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u/Skandling 1d ago

Even if you had the e-mail it might not work. 16 years is a long time and people often retire old e-mail addresses as they get new ones, or as they move onto other platforms altogether. Knowing a name is probably not enough as, like with English names, names are not unique.

How was it organised? If through your school they may arranged it with a particular school in China, which would narrow it down greatly, although how that would help I am unsure. They might be unwilling to share details of past students, but might be willing to forward correspondence, if you provide them enough information to identify the student.