https://www.npr.org/2018/10/09/63898...-to-prosperity
Abbas, who just finished his first year of beginning Mandarin at Islamabad's National University of Modern Languages, is part of a rush to master Mandarin across Pakistan... Officials say there's a demand for translators, lawyers and supervisors. But they need to speak Mandarin.
Still, efforts to teach Mandarin in Pakistan are fragile. Mustafa says most students drop out because they are shocked by how difficult it is.
"This is the big difference, of course, in our culture, in Chinese culture, there is no God and no Allah," Daojian says. "No one created the universe, it's very difficult for us to understand the religion here."
Despite those issues, there is enthusiasm about China. It's a rare gateway open to Pakistanis who often struggle to obtain visas to the West... Pakistanis also say it's easier to obtain visas to China than to those other countries.
In 2016, the Chinese government and Chinese universities offered some 5,000 scholarships to Pakistanis — more than to students from any other country.
In a few cases, there has been enough mixing to create lasting personal relationships. Zunaira Mumtaz is Pakistani, and her husband, Yin Hang, is Chinese. They've been married four years and have a daughter, now a toddler. They joke that she's a hybrid. Her mother calls the girl by her Pakistani name, Umul-Baneen. Her father calls her by her Chinese name, Eefay. The couple communicates in English.
Not sure if the article title is accurate, compared to what is actually written.