Experience report
ANR: 746308
Name: Carel van der Linden
E-mail: c.vdrlinden@tilburguniveristy.edu
Exchange semester: fall semester
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: Renmin University
Country: China
Admission, arrival, housing
Most people that go on an exchange to Renmin University get a buddy assigned from the universities
buddy program. This buddy will help you with getting started and may offer to pick you up at the
airport. My buddy however had a mandatory, for everybody of her year, military training so wasn’t
able to make it. So when you are arriving in the end of August beginning of September your buddy
might not be available due to this training. Introduction activities were plentiful but prepare for some
slight hassle in the sense that things might be rather unclear and take enough passport photos
because some of them, at least mine, got lost in the process and you’ll have to get new ones. Also
because Renmin just requires them for quite some things.
Accommodation wise there is plenty of accommodation on campus. You can also find a place off
campus but as far as I noticed only a small handful of people at Renmin University did so. For this
reason I would suggest others to sign up for the on-campus accommodation, it is conveniently close
to where your lectures will be and you’ll be living in the same building with all other exchange
students. The downside however is having to take either a 15 or a 45 minute cab to the clubbing
areas but then again cabs are rather cheap.
There are a total of three different dorms that you can book in advance. International students building
1 & 2 are both shared dormitories, meaning that you will share your room with one other person and
will have a hall-shared bathroom. The International exchange building/ G building/ or Korean Building,
which I stayed in, is however the one I would highly advice. This is the newest building of the three
and you will have a private room with a private bathroom. This is also the one where most other
exchange students stay at, the other two are more used by long term foreign students. The beds are
really hard but all in all it is a really good place to stay. In the beginning you might be put off by the big
sign saying that you’ll have to be in before 12pm but this rule seems to be there only in words.
Location of university/city
Beijing as a city is organized in a way that you are probably not used to. Instead of it having one
mayor center there are a lot of different areas that all have their own center. Renmin University for
instance is located within Wudakou on the west side of Beijing, which is the area that hosts most of
the major universities of the town. From the university it is about a 15 minute cab to the center of this
area where there are various bars that focus on students and have specials for exchange students.
Another good place to have a drink is sanlitun on the east side of town where more clubs then bars
are based.
Academics
I went to Renmin University on a Masters Exchange. Which meant that I was allowed to take MBA
courses which are normally meant for people with work experience. I highly advice to take these if you
are allowed. Most of the teachers have lived in the US or Canada so the English level is really good.
Besides that the style of studying within the MBA was really attractive to me. Courses would be case
based. So instead of memorizing information you are required to prepare a case study each meeting
and then this case is being discussed between the students, the teacher usually only provides
guidance.
I did also attend one lesson of the Master’s program but dropped this one after the first class since
here the level of English was quite low and I didn’t really feel like the course added anything.
If you are able to take MBA courses from either Majid Ghorbani or Byron Lee is would advise them.
For Dutch standards I think Renmin University has a really big campus, it was a fifteen minute walk
from the dorms to the building the MBA classes were in. However I have heard that for Chinese
standards the campus of Renmin is one of the smaller ones.
Social life
The university does organize some social activities for students. There is for instance a trip to the
Chinese wall and a cultural event is organized where each nationality can have its own stand. There
was also a buddy party that was organized by the university but this party felt really childish. And this
is actually the main problem with connecting with local students. Students that get to go to these
universities have usually been driven by their parents to study all day for their entire live, this makes it
quite hard to connect with most local students on a social level.
Most social interactions for that reason, at least for me, were with other foreign exchange students.
Together with these other exchange students I did go to some different places to travel. China is
really massive so my advice is not to try to see to many things at once, like I tried, because you will be
traveling a lot and be broke quickly. Traveling outside of China is possible, in the Netherlands you will
only get a single entry visa at the embassy but when arriving at Renmin you can arrange for a second
entry at the international office at the G-building.
Living costs
Concerning living costs I think, not including traveling, that I spent a bit more than back in Tilburg
each month. One of the main costs is food although most food is rather cheap to buy you will be
buying food all day long, since you can’t really cook in the dorms, so it adds up. For the dorm room
itself I paid a little bit less then I would in the Netherlands about 350 euros a month. Be prepared that
you will have to pay everything beforehand in cash though, in order to get the best price.
Textbooks are not required for the MBA program, some are advised readings but not necessary.
Masters courses will have mandatory textbooks but since they don’t really recognize copyrights in
China these books are copied versions and will only cost a couple of euros.
You can also get around some of the costs of drinking since most clubs/bars have special offerings
for foreign students. Try to get to know PR people of some clubs, generally they want to have
foreigners inside so they will try to get you to come with free drinks. These free drinks will usually
contain some generic alcohol so prepare for worse headaches though.
Culture
Personally I did not experience a culture shock. I went in knowing that some things will be different, I
have been travelling in Asia a lot before so wasn’t quickly put off by the noise, the business and the
fact that it can be quite filthy sometimes. However during the end of the exchange a got a little bit fed
up with the spitting.
The culture between China and the Netherlands is quite different, I think the area prospective
exchange students might have a problem with will be when working in team assignments. For a lot of
foreign students this caused some frustrations. One solution is to be very clear in what you think
everyone should do. We are thought from a young age to be problem solving and think for ourselves,
in China most people were still thought to listen to authority so have a hard time working
independently.
I feel like I did learn some insights about Chinese culture but also about a lot of other different
cultures. I followed the course Cross-Cultural Management in which various problem cases between
different cultures were discussed within I highly multi-cultural group of students.
Concerning differences within China itself, there are a lot. China is such a massive country that if you
travel to different parts of it you will really encounter very different people. For instance I traveled to
the south-western provinces were you will get a more south east Asian feel. On the other hand
Shanghai for instance feels much more Western oriented than Beijing and is a completely different
place even though it is “only” about five hours away by train.
Personal development
Basically I have met a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds and cultures. Getting
to know these people always enhances the way you view the world. Really summing up concrete
things I learned or what lessons I learned about myself are not things that come to mind to me. I think
the most important thing I the experience itself, which I enjoyed tremendously.
Tips for future students
All in all you will be able to manage anything you have forgotten since you can find pretty much
anything in Beijing. Most clothes, if you forget any, can be cheaply bought at one of the fake markets,
bargain heavily though. In the first months when you go in September/ October it will still be quite
warm weather but in December it will suddenly be really cold.
Be prepared that Beijing is not a clean city and that on some days, especially when it comes closer to
November/ December it can be very polluted. My advice is to buy a mask, I know they look ridiculous
but when it was bad and I didn’t wear one I would feel tired and get headaches.
Also it might be smart to bring some medicine from back home like aspirin and such cause you might
prefer these from Dutch make than from Chinese make.