Participants attending the opening ceremony of a Lancang-Mekong cooperative program for water resource professionals pose for a group photo at Hohai University, Jiangsu province, on Oct 20. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Theerapon Thammahora, an official from Thailand’s water resources ministry, had never thought of pursuing his master's degree in China before being recommended by his government this July.

But on Oct 20, Thammahora found himself at Hohai University in Jiangsu province, where he was about to begin a cooperative program for water resources professionals from the Lancang-Mekong region.

At the opening ceremony, the Thai official expressed his gratitude to Hohai University, the program organizer, which has a global reputation for groundbreaking research on water conservancy. He also said he was excited to begin living and studying in China, which he described as very different to how he had imagined.