More at home in Shanghai than Belgrade: A Serbian celebrates 20 years in China

I meet Filip Filipović in a coffee shop near Xinhua Road, a neighborhood where he grew up, and find the Serbian expat full of surprises.

He chooses to carry on our conversation in Chinese. Small wonder that he speaks the language so well; he came to Shanghai with his parents when he was 7 and has been educated in the city from primary school through to postgraduate study.

Now 27, Filipović is currently in the second year of his PhD studies at Fudan University.

His father, inspired by Shaolin martial arts, visited China in the 1990s and decided to settle his family in Shanghai in 2003. He is the author of more than 10 books spanning novels, politics, philosophy and martial arts.

Young Filipovic was enrolled in the second grade at Fahuazhen Road No. 3 Primary School. He later attended Fudan Junior Middle School and Nanyang Model High School.

"I consider myself a true Shanghainese, having benefited from nearly nine years of compulsory education here," Filipović says. "While I don't speak Shanghai dialect, my Mandarin carries a distinct Shanghai accent."

This month, Filipović won second prize in the Shanghai Get-Together Writing Contest, which showcases the global appeal and cultural diversity of the city. His entry, one of 261 from 36 countries, was entitled: "China – My Second Hometown."

At the time, Filipović said, "Although I call it my second home, in many ways, I know Shanghai better than I know Belgrade."

It all started in primary school in Shanghai – a time he remembers well.

"On the first day, after the morning session, I noticed my classmates cleaning their desks and packing their textbooks into their schoolbags," he says. "Assuming the school day was over – as it typically is in Serbia, where primary school is only half-day sessions – I did the same. I packed up, left the classroom and prepared to go home."

His teacher, however, called him back and explained school here is a full day. At first, the cultural shock of it caused him to weep.

But Filipović not only adapted to Shanghai's demanding education system but excelled at it. Like most Chinese students, he received after-school tutoring and spent weekends cramming for lessons.

It was a disappointment that, unlike local students, he was unable to take China's national college entrance exam. Still, his academic excellence earned him admission to Fudan University in 2016, following a track designed for international students.

In 2020, Filipović graduated with distinction with a bachelor's degree from Fudan's School of International Relations and Public Affairs. He then went on to earn a master's degree at the institution and now pursues a doctoral degree.

There are times, he admits, when he has walked a fine line between insider and outsider. Like the time when, chatting with Chinese friends about the lackluster performance of the Chinese national football team, he was suddenly brought up short and told that as a foreigner, it was not his place to criticize the team.

He still visits his homeland frequently, oddly finding that he generally prefers Chinese cuisine to Serbian food. Still, one of his favorite foods is the Serbian national dish pljeskavica, a grilled mixture of spiced minced pork, beef and lamb.

Among his favorite Chinese dishes are fried rice with egg, pickled long beans and Chaoshan hotpot.

He says, "The longer I stay here, the more I notice the cultural similarities between our two countries. Chinese visitors to Serbia often find themselves blending in seamlessly within just a few days."

He says Western media influences often skew perceptions of China. To combat what he considers to be disinformation, he recently launched his own video channel and set up a studio near the neighborhood where he grew up.

"We're doing our part to facilitate communication, but that's not nearly enough," he explains. "Larger organizations need to step in, and China should establish more news-gathering agencies in Serbia. It's difficult to have your voice heard when there aren't enough people on the ground."

Filipović stresses the importance of strengthening student exchanges between the two countries.

"I sincerely hope we can make significant progress in media and student exchanges," he says.

Exchanges in sports and music have enhanced ties between China and Serbia. Former Chinese national football team coach Bora Milutinović, a Serbian, famously led China to its only World Cup appearance during the 2002 tournament co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

More recently, in October, Filipović welcomed a Serbian musical choir to Fudan University as part of the Shanghai International Arts Festival.

"During my undergraduate years, my class counselor, noticing my passion for foreign affairs, provided me with numerous opportunities to participate in exchange events," he says.

Filipović interned at the Serbian Embassy in Cyprus as an undergraduate and later assisted the Serbian consulate in Shanghai, gaining experience in diplomacy and cultural exchanges.

Filipović has also been a contributing consultant at the Belt and Road Institute in Serbia, which focuses on China's landmark trade and cultural outreach to countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. Recently, he co-authored an article with the institute's director.

In May, he participated in the 4th Belgrade Think Tank Conference of the Belt and Road Institute.

As our discussion draws to a close, I ask Filipović about his impressions of the Xinhua neighborhood where he grew up, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

"From primary school to junior high school, I grew up here among the uncles and aunties in this neighborhood," he says.

The neighborhood has remained largely unchanged, he notes, apart from some noticeable details, like the undergrounding of unsightly overhead power lines.