Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna holds flowers at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna, a Russian girl studying in Huzhou city, has gone viral on Chinese social media recently. She just graduated from Huzhou University with an undergraduate degree. On June 23, she witnessed an elderly woman falling into the water, when she traveled to Shaoxing city of Zhejiang province on her graduation trip. She did not hesitate to jump into the water and tried to rescue her who was sinking.

Thanks to the joint efforts of hers and the residents on the shore, the elderly woman was successfully rescued. The process of saving the woman's life by Shakhnaz was captured by surveillance camera and spread on the Internet, which won the praise of netizens.

Shakhnaz came to China in the year of 2016. Studying and living in China for many years, she likes Chinese culture very much. She is the only foreign female member of the lion dance team of the school. Although she has graduated from the university, Shakhnaz doesn't want to leave Huzhou. She has applied for graduate school of Huzhou University and has finished the admissions interview. "I like here very much. I want to continue studying here and maybe stay and live here," said Shakhnaz.

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna rescues an elderly woman who fell into the water in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 23, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

A selfie of Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna at the site where she saved a drowning elderly woman is seen in her mobile phone, at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 23, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna studies at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna shows a social platform's report on her rescue of a drowning elderly woman at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 23, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna (L) is greeted by a junior schoolmate after her postgraduate admissions interview at a cafe on campus in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna is pictured in the training room of Physical Education College of Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna (R) asks her classmate to tutor her for the postgraduate admissions interview at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Representatives from Shaoxing city come to extend their greetings to Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna at Huzhou University in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Gubaidullina Shakhnaz Evgenevna experiences dragon dance with children in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]