Experience report
ANR: 460792
Name: Hao Zhang
E-mail: haozhang0402@gmail.com
Exchange semester: fall semester
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: Shandong university
Country: China
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university
provide? Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for
a place to live after you arrived?
The airport pick was really good arranged. The student organization organized an airport pick up for
foreign students. Then a buddy helped you to assign for the dorm and helped you to get a mobile
phone card. The beginning was really bad, because the dorm was still under construction and day
and night was a lot of noise. Furthermore in the beginning there was no water in the dorm. The
accommodation in the beginning was really bad. The accommodation was provided by the university,
but the university was exactly upon my arrival not open, so nobody could help me with my complaints.
The university provides double rooms and single rooms. The single rooms were still under
construction, but if you go on exchange to china you will have most of the time a double room. The
accommodation was in advance booked, but in the end I received another room, the administration is
really messed up. Do not be scared you will end up with a room and the living conditions will improve
and you will get used to it, but you need to be flexible.
The university organized after a weeks a introduction and there is opportunity to meet new
people. In the introduction session there is also a presentation about the formal things about the
dorm, rules and the life in china.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? What is the
best place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.? What are interesting things to see and do in
your host city? What was different than in Tilburg?
The university is in the middle of the city in Jinan. This is a city that is very polluted if you have any
asthmatic problems, I would not recommend this location. There a too many good places to eat near
the university. The university has a south gate, north gate and a west gate. The west gate is a good
gate the eat lamian, just noodles with different toppings. The south gate is good for dumplings and
steamed buns. The north gate is kinda a mix of different style of chinese food. I would recommend
take your bike or just walk and search the area for restaurants, because everything is cheap and
delicious. In Jinan you could visit daming lake, that is a big lake in the middle of the city. Go as soon
as possible there, because you will see lots of flowers. Then you have also Qianfoshan also know as
thousand budha mountain worth visititing and you will see a lot things about budhism.
The city Jinan is not comparable with Tilburg, because it is so much bigger. It is really a
chinese city and not really international, only in the centre of the city. You will see a big difference
between rich and poor if you travel more in the city.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the
courses add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to
Tilburg University concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English,
workload, etc.? Overall, were you happy with your academic achievements during your
exchange? Please describe the campus of your host university.
I could not really choice my courses, because the amount of offered courses is so small, that you will
need to enroll for almost every course. I choosed for the financial investment, financial economics,
law and economics, critical thinking, entrepeneurship planning and international finance. The topics of
the course were mainly about finance. The courses were not difficult, I think you could compare them
to first years courses. The workload was not so heavy and the level of English was in my opnion
pretty bad and sometimes the courses were in chinese. So I studied some courses just by myself.
Most of these classes are smaller and it really smells in the lectures rooms. Overall I am quite happy
with my progress and learned a lot, but I could make more progress in other country. I learned a lot
about the chinese education system and the chinese live.
The campus is really big consisting of multiple buildings, library and a cantine. The cantine is
really big, one of the biggest in China. The campus is really clean, but you really need to walk around
to know the route to your dormitory.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with
local students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along
with the local students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries
during your exchange?
The university is not really organizing something, The SICCA (student organization) is organizing the
most the things. SICCA organized a welcoming party for a exchange students and a free trip to the
city Qindao or Qofu. Furthermore the student organization organized also some trips to a zoo and
with Christmas/new year a ceremony with a nice show. I had lots of contact with local student,
because I already spoke chinese and asked local students to teach me chinese. I had a really good
relationship with the local students. Living in the dorm and participating in all these activities was a
good opportunity to meet new people. I really made good friends from all over the whole world. I
travelled a lot with my friends that I made in China. I went to 6 six different places. I traveled to
Wenzhou, Qindao, Shanghai, Qofu, Harbin and Hong Kong. The nice thing is that China is such a big
country every place is different from each other and each region has it’s specialties. (food)
TOPIC: Living costs
How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg
University? What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg? What did you
spend most of your money on? What would you advice future students to spend their money
on? Please outline your approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange: housing, food,
textbooks, etc.
I spended most of my money on food, becaue I really love food. I was in China to taste differenct
kitchens and try as many things as I could. The normal living expense are way more cheapier in china
than compared to Tilburg. For housing I spendede 140 euros each month. On the textbooks I
spendede 50 euros in total. The rest of my money went up to travling and food. If you always eat in
the cantine, you will save up a lot money. So you could travel more, but for me trying lots of different
foods was also part of my experience in China. I think per month I spended around 400 euros
approximately including trips/ clothes.
TOPIC: Culture
Did you experience culture shock while on exchange? How would you compare your host
culture to your own culture? What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange?
What was different about your host culture than you expected? What did you like and not like
about your host culture? Do you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what
would you like to learn more? How would you describe your host countries culture? If you
travelled to other cities/countries during your exchange, were they different than your host
city/country, and how?
I really experienced a culture shock and it was really hard for me to deal with it, Eventhough my
parents are Chiinese and know a lot about chinese culture and society. To face the reality was hard.
Bureaucracy is almost everywhere in china and if you want to arrange things for your dorm it takes
really long or they will just ignore you. Luckliy I spoke chinese and some of my friends so we could
deal with the situation. You could assume that chinese people are rude and not clean, but this just a
view from the west. Chinese people are not aware of the values in the west and within family circles
chinese people are really different when you compare how chinese people are to the outside world.
The way chinese people deal with you is sometimes hard and unfair. I realized myself that living in
the west gives you so much more oppurtunities and most of the people should be happy that they
have a life in the west. I learned that in the Netherlands and Europe people take a lot things fro
granted. In China the gap between poverty and rich is huge. The poor are really poor and the rich are
getting richer in China.
Society is based on Buddhism, Communism and Confucianism and lots of values are different in
China compared to the west. In the west indivualims and capitalism is more important. The they hold in China
are not necessarily bad, I think that the west also could learn from China and ofcourse the opposite way.
The big cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong are really more international and you see the influence
of the westn culture, but other cities sucha as Harbin are still the same as Jinan.
TOPIC: Personal development
What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange? Would you do things
differently if you had the chance, and what would you do differently? What was your best
experience, and what was your worst experience? What will you remember for ever about your
exchange period? What was the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your
exchange period?
I really learned more about myself, becaue how you deal with things in China is different than in the
Netherlands. It’s a total different world and communication is going in different way, except the
language also the way of communication. I improved my chinese, because I could really use my
chinese in pratical way. My best experience was meeting people all over the whole world and
learning new things about different cultures and making a lot fun with them. My worst experience is
the dorm and the bad condition of my arrival that everything was under construction. I learned to be
more patient in life and taking initiative is good, but always be aware people from differenct
backgrounds cope with things in different way.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university?
What should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required
for going on exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in
preparation that you didn’t do?
I recommend an exchange, it does noet matter where you wlll go. You will learn a lot about yourself
and meet a lot of new people and you have the opportunity to see a lot different things from the world.
Exactly I would not recommend my destination, except if you are very flexible and already took some
chinese lesson otherwise it will be very difficult. I really recommend that you take some chinese
lessons to have some basics and if you go to this destination then before you leave make a small
notebook with useful words.
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
If you took any pictures or made any videos that you would like to share with future exchange
students, please include them (or e-mail them separately). Pictures that show your daily life or
symbolize your exchange period are especially interesting for future exchange students.