The University of Nottingham

His face is one of the most recognised in Chinese television and his voice opened and closed the Beijing Olympic ceremonies. But his career on China Central Television (CCTV) is about much more than just being a presenter.

As co-host of CCTV programmes, Crossover and Culture Express, Xiaojun Ji (Business Administration MBA 1999) is doing what he can to introduce China, Chinese people and the Chinese lifestyle to overseas audiences and vice versa.

Crossover is a mini talk show which invites guest speakers to discuss with Xiaojun anything from employment discrimination and animal protection to gender imbalance and the shopping habits of Chinese tourists abroad.

“Honestly I don’t know how much I can do but since I have the platform, I will do as much as I can to bridge the two sides, West and China. We might assume we know each other well enough, given that we live in a global age. The fact is we might have some knowledge about politics, or entrepreneurs, or academics, but we do not have enough nowledge about people, ordinary people.

“What we are now doing is trying to show people what is happening in Chinese society and, at the same time, by inviting guest speakers from different cultural backgrounds to join us in the show, explain to our audience both home and abroad the differences between different countries. Culture is not always a big word only, it lies in everyday life.”

Xiaojun believes it was an honour for him to make the Olympic announcements in 2008 and have his voice heard by a worldwide TV audience of more than four billion people. But has that event left a lasting legacy for China in the way the UK hopes London 2012 will?

“Definitely. Not only in arousing the national pride but also in giving people confidence in every aspect.  We can do it. We can not only do it, we can do it well! Ever after that, China had the World Expo, Asian Games, World Universiade, Asia Beach Games and National Games. As I was invited to be the announcer for most of those events too, I got the chance to meet the organising teams and in many cases, I saw familiar faces, all Chinese colleagues.”

Xiaojun arrived at Nottingham after working for the Ministry of Education in China and was inspired to apply to Nottingham after meeting up with the University’s former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Colin Campbell, among a delegation of VCs to China.

“It was all a coincidence really, it’s all YUANFEN, arranged by destiny. I wish I could have spent longer in Nottingham but every day I spent there counted. I lived at Broadgate and we went into Beeston a lot. Study was intense but we managed to sneak out anyway. We visited Cornwall, the Lake District and Edinburgh and went to the Chinese restaurants in the city centre. Everything is still so vivid today. I am proud to be a Nottingham graduate. The bond will always be here in my heart. Nottingham gave me a lot and I appreciate that.”

Xiaojun, 41, has just published a book with stories of his early life.

“I was born in the 70s. Life was so different when I was little. The village where I was born is about to be torn down for new projects. Bikes are still around but are never seen as a luxury item anymore. Cars, which were once so far away from our lives, are now an essential part. So much has already happened and so much is still happening.  We are honoured to be able to witness the changes and even more so to be able to be a part of the change.

“But when we stride forward, we should not forget where we came from. That is also part of the reason why I wrote the book. When we understand where we were and where we are today, we’ll treasure what we have even more.”