Samsonova Iaroslavna, a Russian woman working in Northeast China's Jilin province, can hardly wait to make her debut as a TV presenter in China.

The 30-year-old has been living in China for six years and speaks good Mandarin. She is the presenter of The China-Russia Bridge, a bilingual program on Hunchun TV. The program will be broadcast right after the coming May Day holiday.

"This program introduces culture and folk customs in China and Russia," Iaroslavna said.

"It will better promote friendship between the two countries in an interesting and lively way."

Iaroslavna came to China in 2006 after completing her undergraduate study in Khabarovsk State Normal University of Russia, where she majored in Japanese. She started to work in a Japanese company in Hunchun, a city on the border of China, Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Hunchun is about eight hours drive from her hometown and is famous for border business.

"When I first came here, I was just curious about working in China, but I didn't think about staying long," she said, "I've only traveled in China once."

Yet she found the place truly amazing.

"People here are really friendly and life is colorful," she said. "And because it is the border city of three countries, there are more career opportunities here than I thought."

As she knew very little Chinese at first, communication was difficult. In 2008, she applied to a two-year program at Beihua University in the city of Jilin.

Today, her Chinese language skills have brought her under the spotlight. During Spring Festival in 2011, she participated in a TV program about foreigners in Hunchun making dumplings at home. She impressed the TV crew with her fluent Mandarin.

In 2008, she met Samsonov Viatcheslav, who was running a border business in Hunchun, and they got married the following year. The couple now lives in a three-bedroom apartment decorated in typical Chinese style. A big Russian painting hangs in the living room, and they have piles of Chinese books and DVDs on the bookshelves.

That is one of the ways that Iaroslavna learns Chinese. She presents in Chinese and Russian in the newly launched program, and she conducts most of her interviews in Chinese.

"I present both in the studio and outdoors during the program," she said, "I feel excited to present on the streets or in the restaurants, but I get a bit nervous in the studio because I am the only one talking."

Xiao Hong, a Hunchun TV director, said Iaroslavna was chosen as the presenter because of her live performance in front of the camera and excellent understanding of China.

The 20-minute program will be broadcast weekly both on Hunchun TV and in Russia.

"I am so excited that people in my home country will also see me on screen and know that I am having a great life in China," she said.

Contact the writers at liumingtai@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn

Han Junhong in Changchun contributed to this story.