Saul Stollery, a UNNC(The University of Nottingham Ningbo China) graduate from the UK, recently participated in a TV show entitled The Day I Ran China. He gained a lot of fans from the show with his good looks and his outstanding performance in the live broadcast.
The show invites ten participants from all over the world to gain insights into China's targeted poverty alleviation programmes. What impressed Saul the most was the “live-stream selling" in Yizhang, Hunan Province, where participants were required to introduce and sell local agriculture products.
While the other two groups tried to improve traffic flows with various performances, Saul's team returned to the product and poverty alleviation itself, using humorous language to highlight the characteristics of agricultural products. Finally winning the competition with nearly five times the votes of the second-placed team, his team impressed the audience.
Saul said that it was the first time he had visited rural areas during his eight years in China. He hoped to show the true charm of China to foreigners, reminding them that "China does not only have Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou."
Enrolled at UNNC with a full scholarship and graduated with a first-class degree, Saul considers studying at UNNC is “the best choice of his life”. His host family became a second home and motivated him to take an active part in the University’s volunteer activities to help others.
Each week, he tutored English to children from poor families. “I think the biggest gain for these children is not the improvement in their English, but self-confidence and the ability of teamwork,” he said.
Outside the show, Saul has been trying different things. When he was a student, he tried hosting, singing, and speaking. After graduation, he learned about webcasting and gained a lot of fans with his charm. Then he founded his own skin management company, which now has 7 branch stores in Beijing.
Nowadays, Saul says that he is very busy, but "always ready" for fresh challenges. “I want to try more and have diverse life experiences while I am still young," he said.