Hello there! Here’s the latest from our brave young people writing the letter they have always wanted to write, as part of our Community Writing Project sharing stories from our community. Our writer this week is Mary, a Beijing-based high schooler, who wrote a letter “to her parents” about a recent moving experience she had with music.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @CandleX_Beijing

To my deares...

Hi CandleXers,

Here’s the next installment of our “Letters to Parents” series, in which we give Beijing high school or college-aged young people the chance to write a letter to some of the most important people in their lives – their parents. As ever, if you have any ideas or would like to join this project, get in touch.

Dear Mom,

When was the last time that you had to remind me to study? I don’t remember either, because it must...

Hi CandleXers! A couple of weeks ago, we posted a video entry with David, a long-term friend of CandleX founder Xiaojie Qin and a participant of a mental health peer support group. Since the video was filmed, he has sadly passed away. This week, we are sharing a new video with his brother, Don.

In the video, which you can see below, Don shares his own experiences with mental health and talks about his relationship with David.

Li...

Hi CandleXers! Thanks for the great feedback on our “letters to parents” series, in which we’ve been asking teenage Beijingers to write the letter to their parents they have always wanted to write. These anonymous letters are all written by teens that are either still in high school or have just graduated.

“English class reminded me of you”

To my dearest parents,

It's been quite a long time since the last time I wrote to you. I h...

Last year we published a video interview with David, a Washington participant in a mental health peer support group. The coronavirus outbreak in Beijing has meant that much of our peer support has been remote over the last few weeks, but CandleX is still committed to providing psychosocial support for Beijing’s English-speaking community.

Here’s an interview with Emily, who has just started facilitating a peer support group for...

As part of our ongoing work with schools and colleges in Beijing, CandleX held a workshop on 29 May in collaboration with Elite Scholars of China. The workshop aimed to teach parents whose children were about to graduate high school and go abroad for college what they could expect from their children’s mental health during the transition, how they could support them, and how they can support themselves through this time.

While...

CandleX works with schools to deliver workshops and training on various aspects of mental health. This workshop was the fourth time that our incredible counselor Melena has delivered a high-energy session aimed at Chinese students who are preparing to go to college in the USA.

Let’s be honest, moving from China to the United States to further one’s education is exciting, but can be scary. On 13 April 2019, CandleX’s mental heal...

On March 20, 2019, CandleX was invited to present a workshop on bullying at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB). There were approximately 260 students in attendance from grades 6-12. It was an exciting day in which Melena, a long term volunteer with CandleX, presented an anti-bullying workshop aimed at educating the students about bullying.

Topics covered ranged from different types of bullying to how to prevent...

On November 28, 2018, CandleX was invited to present a workshop on mental health wellbeing of students at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) as part of the school’s one week long Mindfulness Week. There were approximately 350 students in attendance, who were in grade 6-10 and between 12-16 years old. The auditorium was full, and the energy was palatable when Xiaojie, the Founder and Executive Director at Candl...

Is it the first time that you and your child are living in different countries? Nov has arrived, and  so have your feelings. Along with the hope and joy, you also cannot help feeling worried, anxious about whether your child will adapt to new customs, languages, and food, which is really scary.

Mainland Chinese students represent the largest body of international students in the US. Your concern is not absolutely unnecessary. A...