Families overseas merge local study with Chinese online courses, Xu Fan reports.

A saying popular among Chinese immigrants to Western countries goes along the lines of "the mountains and waters are beautiful, but the life tastes lonely".

Now, as well as having to overcome cultural gaps and language barriers in far-flung places, overseas Chinese families are facing a new challenge brought forth by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, statistics from UNESCO shows that 186 countries have closed their schools because of the crisis, which has affected more than 1.2 billion students, and interrupted classroom learning for at least seven out of 10 students worldwide.

Since China became the first country forced to launch a nationwide battle to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, beginning in late January, a lot of Chinese families residing in foreign countries have kept an eye on news from home, enabling them to take precautions and be more prepared to cope when the crisis spread to their neck of the woods.

Evita Mei, a Chinese immigrant in Tauranga on the North Island of New Zealand, says she has rigorously followed updates from China since the Lunar New Year. In early February, she contributed to a donation organized by the NZ-China Friendship Society in Tauranga, which sent more than 6,000 pieces of medical equipment, including masks, disposable gloves and protective suits, to hospitals in Chongqing in Southwest China.

New Zealand's Ministry of Health confirmed the first COVID-19 case-an individual who had arrived in Auckland from Iran-on Feb 28.