Eve Nagel works in China's IT industry as a product tester. Liu Xiaozhou / China Daily

Soon after 26-year-old Eve Nagel first arrived in China she suffered a severe bout of homesickness and ached to be with her family and friends.

On one particular lonely day she was sharing her sorrows with a friend on a crowded Beijing subway platform. She appeared to be on the edge of tears.

To Nagel's surprise, a young Chinese man, who had been standing close by, gave her a box of chocolates that he had bought for his girlfriend. He had felt deep sympathy for the young Estonian after overhearing her talk about her difficulties.

Nagel was moved by the kindness of this stranger, and says this moment in the subway reflects her overall experience in China - it is a place that has its ups, its downs and its ups again.

"Though it was a small thing for him, his gesture made me feel really warm," says Nagel, who came to China 18 months ago.

"China can be lonely, but living in such a new place has brought excitement to my life."

Nagel is impressed that so many Chinese, especially younger people, can speak English and at many workplaces - including her own - language is not an issue.

Nagel works for Chinese IT service provider Vanceinfo, which is expanding around the world, setting up offices in Europe and the United States.

She is a product tester and chose to work for a Chinese company in order to learn the Chinese way of doing business. Nagel wants to get a better understanding of the relationship between Chinese and European industries.

Of course, there are many differences, she says.

"In China everything is so big and large. Factories and companies are massive. In Europe, especially in Estonia, the factories are small. Nowhere near the size of China's," Nagel says. "But almost everything now comes from China and although I prefer European brands, they are still mostly made in China."

Nagel leads a busy working life at Vance-info and after work enjoys an active social life in a city that never sleeps.

But the bustling Beijing metropolis is a far cry from her hometown, Voru, population 40,000, in the Estonian countryside.

Nagel was born in an average Estonian family and has two siblings, a younger sister and a younger brother.

"I really miss them. I am so busy at work that I have no time to go back home. I call them once every week and we also chat online," Nagel says.

Her father was worried, she remembers, about her decision to move to China.

"He asked me 'Why do you have to go to China, thousands of miles away from Estonia?' I still remember his expression, full of care and affection, when he said this."

But at that time, Nagel was very excited about her new adventure. "I think people should experience more things when they are young.."

Nagel came to the Middle Kingdom through an organization called AIASEC, an agency that helps students find internships in foreign countries. At Vanceinfo, she says, "our team is composed of co-workers from all over the world, such as Britain, Germany and the United States.

It is little surprise that Nagel, from a country with a population of 1.4 million, is overwhelmed by Beijing, population 20 million.

"On an Estonian bus there are many empty seats and people sit away from each other and never talk to strangers," Nagel says.

She says Estonian people, in general, are quiet and shy compared with Beijingers, who are familiar with most foreigners, but not, perhaps, Estonians.

"I would tell them that I am an Estonian girl but I was disappointed that most of them knew nothing about Estonia."

One reason locals are ignorant about her small northern European nation: Few of her fellow countrymen and women are living in China. Nagel went to one event held by the Estonian embassy and met no more than 20 Estonian people.

Living away from home for so long has helped her sort out what her priorities in life really are, and one of the highest is finding a life companion who can speak Estonian.

She has realized how important her native tongue is to her, so feels her homeland is the best place to find a partner. "I doubt if I could find a Chinese boyfriend," she says. "We can be good friends, but the language is still a problem because sometimes it can block our expression for love."

You can contact the writer at liuxiaozhuo@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily