“I love Chinese history and culture, and I am willing to continue introducing it to Maltese audiences through lectures,” Stephen Cachia, lecturer in Chinese history at the University of Malta, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
From October 2020 to June 2022, Cachia held 18 online lectures on Chinese history at the invitation of the China Cultural Centre in Malta. Each lecture lasted 90 minutes, and the program proved highly popular.
Cachia made his lectures as concise and focused as possible and used many photos to illustrate his stories.
“Most people in Malta are not familiar with the history of China. To attract their interest, I introduced the country’s history through stories,” he told Xinhua.
Fluent in Spanish, Cachia worked at the Zaragoza Expo in 2008 in Spain, where he decided to learn Chinese because he wanted to work at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. He eventually got there and joined the team of Malta’s national pavilion.
Between 2012 and 2018, Cachia worked as a teacher of Chinese at the China Cultural Center in his home country.
He has also visited China several times. While there in 2017, he was amazed by the convenience brought by mobile payment to people’s daily life.
“Every time I visit China, I am impressed by its openness, modernity and inclusiveness,” Cachia said, adding “The rapid development of China is beyond imagination.”
Cachia said he plans to visit more famous historical cities in China, including Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and Quanzhou, the important starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
“I believe that visiting these places will help my teaching,” he said.
As a teacher of Chinese history, Cachia wishes to contribute to promoting cultural exchanges between Malta and China, and he also hopes that more Maltese people will learn about China’s history and culture.
Whether teaching students at the university or giving lectures to local people, Cachia always encourages them to visit China and “see the real China with their own eyes.” ■
