Cambodian internet star who charmed tourists in a dozen languages arrives in China to chase university dream
- Thuch Salik’s new classmates make song and dance about his arrival in Zhejiang to enrol in private middle school and take his first steps towards a university place
The Cambodian teenager who became an internet star in November for hawking souvenirs in several languages has enrolled in a private middle school in east China’s Zhejiang province and wants to go to a top university in Beijing.
Thuch Salik, 14, was greeted with song and dance by students from Zhejiang Hailiang Foreign Language School when he arrived at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on Monday.
He then went to the school in Zhuji, about three hours from Shanghai by road.
Hailiang Group, a copper products manufacturer in Zhuji and owner of the school, said it would sponsor Thuch Salik’s education and half of his living expenses through his university years, including postgraduate studies if Thuch Salik would pursue them, a Hailiang spokeswoman said.
“He is very independent and adapting well,” said Hannah Wang, Thuch Salik’s teacher. “He is studying fundamental Chinese and he is coping with the studies in English and maths because there is curriculum difference between the two countries.”