Student Exchange Report
Student: Charles John Rowe (3345045)
Host University: Tsinghua University (Beijing, PRC)
Visiting Tsinghua University had to be one of the best experiences in my life. Never have I
been made to feel so welcome, and been so professionally looked after. This was in stark
contrast to my university exchange to Japan, where to be honest I was treated more as a
potential nuisance right from the offset. After that experience, I arrived in China feeling
much more nervous than I actually had to be. It was a relief to find that Tsinghua University
was proud of its international student population, feeling that it only added to their
prestige, and this attitude trickled down to their teaching approach, as well as the general
atmosphere around campus.
Me and my bicycle outside the ‘Daritang’
A picture of the interior of my AB room
It’s wildly exciting arriving at Beijing airport, and jumping in a taxi. I arrived during the
winter time, and the city looked rather austere and bleak. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the
taxi went straight past the Olympic Stadium. The taxi driver dropped me at Building 19, all
according to plan, where I was able to secure my room very quickly after handing over the
cash. I was given an AB room, which was basically a private bedroom with a desk and
television, with a shared ‘kitchen’ (a sink) and a shared bathroom. Security was excellent; I
had two locked doors between me and the outside world, not to mention the small army of
staff looking after the building. It was pretty basic, but it didn’t take long to dolly the place
up with some things I’d bought at the student supermarket (hidden in the basement of ‘C
building’). The hot water was supplied according to a time schedule, which I was unaware of
for about 5 days, so I’d had a nice cold shower each day for that period, thinking it was all
part of my indoctrination (I’d been waking up early, having a shower 1 hour before it was
switched on). The staff were absolutely gorgeous, and I had a shock when I learned that
they cleaned my room every single day (taking out the trash at the very least). The floor was
covered in white tiles, which meant the ‘fuwuyuan’ or ‘servants’ would mop over it every
now and again, and give me an opportunity to try some Chinese. Security was a big concern
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of theirs, so I did feel a little strange when they locked both doors with a big chain of keys
when leaving my room (making me think of prison break).
After arriving, I became a little hungry. I’d been told about Tsinghua’s famous canteens, but
from my point of view, they all appeared to be closed; they were in fact open, with a dense
curtain keeping the cold wind from blowing through the entrance, giving the impression of
being shut-down for the winter break. Fortunately, Tsinghua had organized a ‘buddy’ for
me, who helped with everything from paperwork, to pointing out classrooms, and
eventually organizing my meal card. Actually, it didn’t take long to figure out how privileged
the international students are at Tsinghua; my ‘buddy’ was gob-smacked at the facilities in
the international dorms. I visited her dormitory a couple of times; it was four girls to a room,
with their bunks above the four desks and a concrete floor. The poor girls at that building
had to take a walk across to the ‘public bathroom’ about 100m away from the front door if
they wanted a shower. So I had no complaints about my room, of course. I felt a little stupid
because I’d bought my ‘buddy’ a box of four fancy chocolates in a coloured box from NZ to
say thank you for all the help I expected from her, and probably each girl in her room
nibbled away on one of them, leaving her with a lonesome chocolate for herself. There were
disparities between each dormitory building, but I considered myself very lucky after visiting
the boys’ dormitory, which was actually much more like a prison, but no doubt you’ll get to
pay a visit yourself should you choose to go. Furthermore, nobody showed up in the ‘B’
room next to my ‘A’ room, so I had extra privacy for the whole exchange.
Outside a bird shop in Tianjin
Calligraphy class lectured by the ‘master’
This was probably the basis of my biggest culture shock I experienced in China; the
disparities between individuals, even at Tsinghua University campus, were so vast and
accentuated, that sometimes I felt like someone from another world. This formed a large
part of my discussion with new international friends from Switzerland, Japan, and Korea. It
is a very odd feeling, to walk around town with a Y100 note (about $20 NZ) and be a
nuisance because the street vendors can’t break that up with their change. It is a shock,
even, when you realise you might have upset your new Chinese friends by suggesting they
catch a taxi, because they are alarmed by the prospect of not being able to afford it. Yes, it
was astonishing, and so if I could change anything about the early days of my exchange it
would have been to behave more sensitively around questions of money. It was very easy to
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blast a whole $20 NZ one evening and live like kings, but such pleasures were short-lived.
The best experiences were to be had in the dirty alleyways and backstreets to the West of
the campus; where meat cooked on skewers with bottles of cold beer could be enjoyed at
any time of the day, followed by a slice of pineapple or a hot pancake filled with diced eggs
and sugar. Others found their pleasures in ‘Wudaokou’ aka ‘Korea Town’ where
internationals dominated and the local businesses aimed to recreate a venue more familiar
to home (be it America, Korea, or otherwise). I thought it was soulless, and those sorts of
places were rife with beggars. Yes, there’s no question that it was all worth a look, but what
was most astonishing was the lack of CHINESE students from Tsinghua at the typical
international haunts. I felt privileged to make friends with girls and boys from different
walks of life all making a real go of their time at university. They tended to hate Wudaokou
with a passion, and were only too happy to show me where the locals really go for a meal
with friends. My favourite places to go were the ‘baozi’ (steamed dumplings) joints, where
you could sit and watch the world go by over a cold bottle of beer (or room temperature as
some Chinese preferred it).
Boy watching fish at the’ Wofosi’ temple
Crocodile and snakes for sale in Chengdu, Sichuan
I had plenty of pet hates about China, but to be honest, they were mostly endearing one
way or another. It was important to make a group of foreign friends (to have a good laugh
over aforementioned pet-hates), and this was very easy to do; everyone was very sociable,
and it was easy to find people on a similar wave-length. I made friends with someone from
Switzerland, and we explored Beijing pretty thoroughly. The subway system was excellent,
and at the cost of one or two yuan per trip, it was easy to get around. In fact, after two or
three months, we had a better grip on Beijing than our Chinese contemporaries at Tsinghua,
since they barely left the campus!! (It’s true)!
I was admitted to the School of Economics and Management (aka SEM) where I undertook
two papers taught primarily in English, although having a command of the Chinese language
was very helpful, since the lecturers often drifted into Mandarin. I also sat three papers
taught by the Chinese Language and Literature Department, which were absolutely
excellent and only taught in Chinese, and by a fluke, the papers I chose matched my abilities
perfectly. The lecturer for my Chinese listening class could answer any problem you had in
perfect Russian, but didn’t speak a word of English. This was a little alarming at the offset,
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but actually, I felt immersed in Chinese language at Tsinghua, and the helping and being
helped by fellow students speaking Chinese exclusively was an excellent experience.
Tsinghua also has a ‘Chinese Language Programme’ but to my knowledge this course of
study makes it difficult to enrol in an actual department (such as economics) and so finding
a host department and taking ‘extra’ Chinese papers from the humanities was very
convenient. I found that at Tsinghua, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and sometimes,
where there’s a small fee, there is definitely a way to do anything you want (regarding your
course of study). My other Chinese papers consisted of reading Chinese literature penned
by Tsinghua alumni, which involved from time to time walks around the beautiful campus
with detailed explanations of their past antics. I also had a calligraphy class, which was
simply excellent and should not be sniffed at; quite possibly, I learnt more about China in
that class than in any other.
Spring brought the campus to life
Ancient Confucian tablets at the Imperial Institute
What to say of the learning experience as a whole? Well, classes were sometimes delivered
in three sets of 45 minutes. This was an astonishingly long time, and usually half the class
had drifted into sleep by the second set. Mind you, this was all a part of the experience, and
the economics papers were attended by ordinary Chinese students which made it feel
pretty authentic. Tsinghua seems to have massive ‘pulling power’ for chief executives to
deliver guest lectures to some pretty bored looking students; we had the CEOs of La Farge,
IBM, Daimler-Chrysler, (to name but a few), all come to visit and share their wisdom with
the class. This was a pleasant surprise and I’m still not sure if I fully appreciated it.
Sometimes it did feel as though assignments were a little unnecessary, but at other times,
the lecturers hit the nail on the head and it felt very rewarding to hand in a report which
had taken some good research and a little discussion with the people made available to you.
If I may make so bold, the university exchange is such an excellent way to get to know
China. It gives you a feeling or purpose, and Chinese people respond very well to the two
following introductory items: ‘I am from New Zealand’ followed shortly by ‘I study at
Tsinghua University’. Yes, the response was very good, and I think it is important not to take
this for granted. In fact, it came in incredibly handy from time to time when a disgruntled
Chinese person might ask “just what are you doing here in China anyway?” since some
foreigners have been making a bad impression of late in China.
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Other highlights included seeing our foreign minister (Hon) Murray McCully deliver a speech
at the Diplomacy and Foreign Studies University of Beijing, as well as a party hosted by the
New Zealand Embassy at the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Chaoyang District. I travelled to the
ancient walled city of Pingyao with four friends on the train, and nearly froze to death in the
‘hotel’. I went to Sichuan (a 30 hour train ride from Beijing) and had a look at some of the
most beautiful temples I have ever encountered (again, with new friends). I had Baozi from
Hu Jin Tao’s favourite dumpling shop in Tianjin, flew dragon kites with some beautiful girls,
had picnics at the Summer Palace, and had some wicked good laughs over cold beers in the
summer. Yes, I cannot imagine having more fun at any other time in my life. It was an
absolute privilege and I am so grateful to the University of Otago for making it all possible.
Prince Gu’s Kettles, Beijing
Beijing University (Boo!) Garden
Catholic Church in Tianjin
I should probably list some practicalities. I got my hands on money using a Visa Debit Card,
which meant my weekly living allowance from New Zealand went into my ordinary BNZ
account, and then I could withdraw cash each Saturday from any ATM I wanted at the
Tsinghua Campus. This was incredibly useful and quite reliable. It was great value eating at
the canteen, and doing so meant I could put a little money aside for travel. A one way ticket
to Chengdu (Sichuan) was, for example, Y520 (about $100 NZ), or about the price of a four
hour trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway here in Dunedin. The bullet train to Tianjin (China’s
sixth largest city) was only $20NZ return.
Communicating with family was simple; I had skype on my laptop and the university
provided a free wireless connection for me after registration. I had a mobile phone and I
recall only ‘charging’ it with credit on just two occasions, and so it was easy to keep in touch
with all the new friends on campus and find something fun to do.
You will absolutely have to buy a bicycle upon arrival; it was my favourite way to explore the
campus, as well as the Haidian district, where Tsinghua is located. There are a plethora of
small bicycle shops on the campus, so it will be no trouble at all. You’ll feel grateful for
having medical insurance when you ride to lectures in the morning, with another 30,000
dozy Chinese students with the same idea.
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I was lucky not to take ill in China, but everyone who did had little to say for the campus
hospital. The Koreans insisted on seeing a Korean doctor at a Korean clinic, and the Germans
insisted on seeing a German…. It goes on, so I’m not sure what New Zealanders are
supposed to do should anything happen, just make do I suppose.
The canteen was excellent but not very vegetarian friendly.
Take something warm for winter, and lots of shorts for summer.
Chinese chocolate is pretty terrible but I’m not sure what you can do about that.
It is very difficult to prepare a learning agreement for Tsinghua because they don’t publish
the papers available for the following semester anywhere useful, and if they do, only
retrospectively. Use an outdated .pdf document of papers available on the International
Students Affairs website and prepare a learning agreement with that, and once you’ve
settled in at the dormitory there is a period of four or five days when you can organize your
papers properly. You will have access to a computer system which lists the course lecturers
and their office number, so that you can organize a course of study which suits best.
If you have any further questions feel free to email me using:
charlesjohnrowe@otagoalumni.ac.nz
Keeping the Foreign Minister’s seat warm, Beijing.
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