"No hype, at least that's how I feel. We didn't even know it was called evacuation when we left. We're just going with the group. All along the way, no matter what means of transportation we took, no matter what road we took, everything was very smooth," said Dai Jiahui, a university student among a group evacuated from the Sudanese capital Khartoum in late April. 

"The trip can be summed up as simple and efficient," said Dai, who is an exchange student at International University of Africa.

After being bussed from Khartoum to Port Sudan, nearly 1,000 Chinese nationals including Dai boarded Chinese and Sudanese naval ships bound for the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Dai was impressed with the support provided by Chinese companies and the Saudi navy.

"After boarding the Saudi ship from Port Sudan, the temperature was freezing. I woke up in the cold. When I asked the Saudi officer for help, he offered me his own blanket. I was very moved."

Dai added that he and other Chinese nationals had good food on the ship. "There were rice and chicken legs. The cook gave me a small chicken leg, and after I talked to him in Arabic, he offered me one more." 

Asked when he felt more settled down, Dai said he had this feeling after he fled to Saudi Arabia with other Chinese national as there was no war.

"But being back in China feels even more settled. Passengers on the plane were holding flowers and national flags, with familiar music. I felt very excited."

"At that time, I felt the motherland's protection for Chinese citizens overseas. No matter where the Chinese people are located in the world, they have a strong country to back them," Dai said.

Like Dai Jiahui, many who've escaped the conflict in the Sudan said they felt reassured in the knowledge that the Chinese government would help bring them home.

And with the majority of its citizens evacuated safely, China has once again fulfilled the purpose of "diplomacy for the people."