"I LOVE Bulgaria and Bulgarian people," said Angel. A kind of strange beginning for an expat article, isn't it, considering Angel is a Bulgarian name and the boy in the picture is Chinese?

In fact, his real name is Lyan Shuai, but he has taken on the Bulgarian name since he's been here. He has been in Bulgaria only four months so far, but he's not afraid of declaring his fondness for the country. At first, this could sound a little premature or false to some of you and your concerns would be founded if Shuai hadn't embraced not only Bulgarian language, but also Bulgarian culture.

He speaks excellent Bulgarian and sings "Obache le bialo" (one of the evergreen Bulgarian songs) even better. Sometimes when he refers to the Bulgarian nation he says "we". In his free time he copies articles from newspapers and magazines to improve his Bulgarian. Knowing these facts it's easier to understand that Angel's passion for Bulgaria is not exaggerated and it's even logical.

Meeting Shuai the day after the Chinese New Year it was interesting to learn more about the celebration.

He explained that this biggest holiday in China is closely related to Chinese folklore. It's a symbol of unity and the whole family gets together to say goodbye to the old year and to welcome the new one.

"Preparations begin with a main cleaning of the house. Throwing away the old things, we make space for the new things to come," Shuai said.

"After that, the house must be decorated. We put paper figures of butterflies, flowers, magpies (a symbol of joy) and, of course, dragons at the windows and all over the house. There are identical verses with good wishes put on both sides of the door; in the middle is the figure of a dragon which means strength and happiness."

Shuai also told me that the presence of fish and dumplings on the table is obligatory. Similar to the Bulgarian tradition with the Christmas banitsa, they hide a coin inside one of the dumplings. Whoever finds the coin will be very lucky during the New Year.

According to him, there are more than 2000 members of the Chinese community in Bulgaria. Usually most of them celebrate with their families and friends. Sometimes Bulgarians also show their respect by taking part in the celebration, but most of them are students who study Chinese or people who are interested in Chinese culture.

In this Year of the Dog (loyalty), Angel wants to be loyal to his plans for the future. In April he's going back to China to finish his education - he's one of the 24 students in the Beijing University of Foreign Languages who are studying the Bulgarian language. Then Shuai will come back here to work for the Chinese Embassy.

His present visit in Bulgaria is also a part of an exchange programme between the Chinese and Bulgarian ministries of education. Angel is the only student sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Besides, at the age of 21 he's eager to taste the life of an expat in Bulgaria. When it comes to work his enthusiasm mixes with the language of diplomacy he has already learnt: "I want to help improve the relations of our two countries, both economical and cultural. For example, in China we have Bulgarian "kiselo mliako" (yoghurt) and last year there was a festival of Bulgarian movies in Bejing."

He also thinks Bulgarian and Chinese people have a lot in common. He sees similarity in the way of thinking and finds Bulgarians' politeness and modesty are very close to the Chinese.

He's looking forward to living here and exploring the whole new world which Bulgaria is to him: "I will try my best to understand the differences and enjoy the things which remind me of China."