Bangladeshi teacher amasses large WeChat following

Soumya is seen in this undated photo. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Having over 1,200 contacts in one's WeChat messaging app is no strange thing for a seasoned Chinese user. But that's what a foreigner from Bangladesh made in two years — and most of the contacts are Chinese.

Soumya, now a teacher at the Birmingham Institute of Fashion and Creative Art of Wuhan Textile University, told the Chutian Metropolis Daily that most of the contacts are his students, colleagues and new friends from Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province.

The 27-year-old former university teacher from Bangladesh came to Wuhan to carry on his postgraduate study when the two universities reached a cooperation agreement in 2015.

Not long after coming to China, he bought his first Huawei mobile phone and learned how to use WeChat. He made a lot of Chinese friends then, and added them to his contacts.

He now even has a Chinese name — A Du, the same as a singer well-known in China. It was given by his Chinese friends because he can sing, and was on TV in Bangladesh four times.

At the 2017 China Textile Academic Conference on Nov 2, he served as an interpreter and saw many university presidents from Bangladesh come to discuss cooperation with Chinese universities.

He said he hopes more young Bangladeshi people come to China and make greater contributions.