Wang Yajie, a 21-year-old undergraduate at Peking University, made a decision in 2012 that astonished everyone. He decided to take a year off from school to do an internship in Tanzania. Just as discarding the "iron rice bowl" - leaving a well-paid secure job - to start a business was controversial, so was taking a gap year in Africa among his peers, most of whom saw the continent only through a prism of war and disease.

Like many Chinese, Wang grew interested in Africa due to Ernest Hemingway's description of Kilimanjaro in his famous novel The Snows of Kilimanjaro as well as the magnificent East African wilderness scenery in the film Out Of Africa starring Meryl Streep. But unlike many, Wang was not resigned to mediocrity. He dreamt of traveling to the continent to see life there firsthand.

Z-turn in Life

In October 2012, Wang started his gap-year internship at the Standard Chartered Bank in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania through AIESEC, a global network providing young people with leadership development experiences. As a customer service manager at the department of wholesale banking, he had two tasks. One was to handle daily banking services, such as opening accounts and currency exchanges, for the nearly 30 local large Chinese companies. The other was to help their offshore financing and credit guarantee pricing, while tapping into new customers.

Wang, who had majored in city planning, was flustered as he was not familiar with the new business. "I still remember the first month I worked there, when I had to maintain regular contact with the clients but didn't know how to deal with them. I was pretty upset then," he said.

Yet the young man had the ability to catch up with the fast pace of working life, devoting a lot of time after work to consulting senior staff from different departments on business-related issues. Only one month later, he was adept at his work. "I did not expect too much, but I hope I was able to get something done at work," said Wang.   

Gradually, he reaped the benefit of being the only Chinese employee in the bank who could earn the trust of Chinese customers much more easily due to the common language and culture. "Local Chinese companies tended to be more closed, so it was necessary to build bridges between the two sides," he said.

Wang worked as a go-between. When he found the bank had failed to resolve compliance issues due to ineffective communication with Chinese enterprises, he took the initiative to explain the importance of compliance to customers. Consequently, customers submitted their identity documents to avoid the risk of accounts closure and the bank achieved significant increase in its business dealing with Chinese clients.

"I always feel I have a limited role in China, which is full of talented people, while in Africa, I had a feeling of being needed. I was regarded as playing an important and irreplaceable role, which was essential for my growth," Wang told ChinAfrica.

Cultural difference was another challenge he needed to overcome. One day at work, he had urgent business to deal with. So he asked the local colleague responsible for the case to handle it as soon as possible. It meant working during the lunch break and his request was refused.

Initially, Wang did not understand his colleague's reaction. "In China, a colleague would have been cooperative in such a situation," he said. Later, he began to understand that his African colleague was not intentionally making things difficult for him. The locals were used to a lifestyle which was different from the way of the Chinese. He began to learn how to adapt to and respect the local culture.

Reaching the top

While others were busy competing for postgraduate qualifications and applying for studying abroad, Wang yearned for the snow of Kilimanjaro, located in north Tanzania. On June 25, 2013, he successfully climbed the "Roof of Africa" in a fitting end to his internship.

It took a week to reach the summit, during which Wang suffered from severe altitude sickness for nearly four days. He fell unconscious several times because of fatigue and lack of oxygen and there were bouts of excessive vomiting when he survived only on chocolates. Fortunately, he had the help of a local guide and never thought of abandoning the climb.

"It means nothing if you don't reach the summit," he said.

Wang likens climbing Kilimanjaro, with its ups and downs, to life: "Like in mountain climbing, there are ups and downs and twists and turns in our lives," he said. Yet, "the moments on the summit are always fleeting."

Entrepreneurial spirit

While his classmates graduated and started to work, Wang continued to complete his studies in a relaxed and confident manner.

"Living in a country with a different system and environment, I had enough time during the year to deliberate on what I really want," Wang said.

Before he went to Africa he had never thought he would be involved in start-ups. Yet now he plans to have his own business one day. Right now the time is not ripe due to lack of resources and creativity but sooner or later, he believes he will be an entrepreneur.

After the one-year internship in Africa, Wang has developed a deeper understanding of people with entrepreneurial spirit. He thinks they are determined, unwilling to brook mediocrity and not swayed by doubts.

He was emboldened to run for presidentship of AIESEC's Peking University branch, which he had never thought of before. Now as president of the unit, he hopes that more students go to Africa on AIESEC internship programs to understand the continent better as well as improve themselves.   

"We hope that more Wang Yajies will appear, who will help more Chinese peers know Africa better," said Zhang Yue, AIESEC China's Director of Marketing and Public Relations. "I firmly believe that Africa is a thriving continent full of opportunities where we can realize our personal values."