China News Service, Hangzhou, March 8th: The cross-strait love of Lin Jiayan, a national March 8 red flag bearer: leading more Taiwanese and Qinghai to pursue their dreams across the sea
Author Guo Qiyu Zhang Yicong
Since coming to the mainland for the first time in 1993, Taiwan compatriot Lin Jiayan has fallen in love with the culture and customs here.
In the following 30 years, she worked here, started a business, got married and started a family, growing from a young student just out of campus to an outstanding woman who started her own business.
While realizing her dream, Lin Jiayan did not forget to help more Taiwanese youth integrate into the mainland, take root in the mainland, and pursue their dreams together across the sea.
On the occasion of the International Women's Day on March 8 this year, Lin Jiayan was awarded the title of "2021 National March 8 Red Banner Bearer" by the All-China Women's Federation.
Lin Jiayan organized children from both sides of the strait to participate in the activity.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Lin Jiayan knew from a young age that her father often traveled between the two sides of the strait to do business. At that time, she was more curious about the mainland than yearning.
After her first trip to the mainland in 1993, she became "fascinated" here.
So without thinking too much, Lin Jiayan chose to work in the mainland after graduating from university.
Talking about the original choice, Lin Jiayan said with a smile that it was a "brave" decision: "At that time, many Taiwanese didn't know much about the mainland, and it was very rare for a girl to work alone in the mainland."
With this curiosity and interest, Lin Jiayan initially worked in a company in Dongguan, Guangdong.
Until she settled in Hangzhou after getting married in 2003, she gradually felt a sense of security in "this place of peace of mind", and at the same time came up with the idea of starting a business.
In 2008, Lin Jiayan, who has a background in preschool education, founded the first kindergarten in Hangzhou, but the road to entrepreneurship is not easy.
"When the kindergarten opened in the first year, we couldn't recruit students at all. At that time, the kindergarten had 37 faculty members, but only 31 students were recruited. We were one-to-one VIP teaching." .
She knows very well that the bright and beautiful decoration of the kindergarten is not enough, and it is necessary to let parents know the educational content and characteristics.
In order to break through the bottleneck of "the fragrance of wine is also afraid of deep alleys", Lin Jiayan and the staff went to the community, squares and other places to distribute the enrollment brochures to advertise the educational characteristics of the kindergarten.
Lin Jiayan promotes the holding of a cross-strait parent-child cultural and creative work exhibition.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
From the second year onwards, according to word of mouth among parents, the enrollment of kindergartens has obviously improved.
It took less than 3 years from the initial 31 students to the full enrollment of more than 300 students.
Today, Lin Jiayan has established 4 kindergartens and 1 kindergarten in the mainland.
"Our kindergarten is to let Taiwanese teachers and Zhejiang teachers share classes to teach. Taiwanese teachers are gentle and patient, Zhejiang teachers are strong in execution and logic, and the effect of complementary advantages is very good." Lin Jiayan introduced.
During this process, she also recruited more and more Taiwanese youths to come to the mainland for internships and employment.
Although Lin Jiayan preaches about the mainland's environment and policies when she returns to Taiwan to recruit every year, the Taiwanese compatriots' stereotype of the mainland still exists.
What impressed her the most was the first batch of introduced Taiwanese teachers. They were very reticent at work, completely different from their cheerful and sunny dispositions when recruiting.
It was only after Lin Jiayan got a deeper understanding that she learned, "Because the elders in the family warned them that if they talked too much in the mainland, they would be arrested."
Lin Jiayan promoted the establishment of the Cross-Strait Youth Health Guard.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Lin Jiayan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In order to solve this misunderstanding, she asked Zhejiang teachers and Taiwan teachers to pair up one by one to help Taiwanese youth integrate into local life.
The gap between young people soon disappeared, and Taiwanese youths also took the initiative to share their life in the mainland on social platforms.
"It also made me realize that there is still a need for deeper understanding and exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, especially between young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Since 2015, Lin Jiayan has invited more than 400 Taiwanese college students to come to the mainland for internships. In addition to Taiwanese teachers, she Eight Taiwanese film and television design talents were also introduced to Hangzhou for employment.
"I am the beneficiary of the development opportunities in the mainland, so I hope to lead and help more Taiwanese and Qinghai cross the sea to pursue their dreams and realize their dreams." Lin Jiayan said.
As the vice chairman of the Taiwan Business and Taiwan Enterprise Special Committee of the Zhejiang Ocean Promotion Association and the vice president of the Hangzhou Taiwan Association, Lin Jiayan also promoted the establishment of the Hangzhou Taiwan Student Volunteer Team, the Cross-Strait Youth Health Guard Team, etc., and led the Taiwan youth to visit various places. exchange, and enhance the interaction and understanding of young people on both sides of the strait.
"I hope that Taiwanese youths can see and experience it with their own eyes, and tell more Taiwanese compatriots a real mainland through them." In Lin Jiayan's view, there is no end to cross-strait exchanges.
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