"I must have been Chinese in my previous life." This is the most profound sentiment of Ela Caruzzi, a Croatian woman. Hailing from Croatia, she now sits in a classroom at the Beijing Film Academy. Ela's deep bond with China was sown as early as four decades ago – her father once studied in Beijing and dreamed of staying in China to pursue a career in the film industry but had to return to Croatia due to his grandfather's passing. When Ela was 16, while her classmates yearned for the West, her father said to her, "Go to China. That's where you'll truly grow." With a promise to learn Chinese first, she came to Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province, alone, in 2023. There, she never felt afraid because living in China made her feel extremely safe.

In 2025, Ela fulfilled her wish to return to China for further studies. What she will never forget is when her Chinese teacher invited her to spend the Spring Festival in her hometown in Dali. In the beautiful Chinese countryside, she dined and danced with the teacher's family and received red envelopes brimming with blessings. "At that moment, I truly felt like I was a part of them." From Croatia to Beijing, from her father's Chinese dream to her own – Ela has proven through her personal experiences that some connections are destined to transcend generations and continents to find their way home.