Why I studied in China

There were many reasons to why I decided to study in China. Here they are:

Learning Chinese

Since going to university I was given the opportunity to study Chinese during my business and marketing degree, the lessons were good but I didn’t feel like I was progressing enough, and I was given the opportunity to go and study at BUCT in Beijing in their Comprehensive Chinese Course for a year, and I jumped at the opportunity. And nowadays many universities in China are being recognized globally, and people always make the assumptions about Chinese education and how hard they push their student, and that’s the challenge that I wanted to take.

Were my feelings the same after I came to China?

Yeah definitely, but living with many students from all over the world, not just Chinese students, it opened my eyes indefinitely, from listening to their stories and their reasons to why they had to, not necessarily a choice, they had to come to China to get this education otherwise they wouldn’t have one, due to potential problems or lack of opportunities in their own countries. What better way to learn the language than to be submerged in the language 24/7 with teachers that start to teach only in Chinese after a short period of time. And having to live your life in Chinese. I developed myself an incredible amount.

China itself

I’d always wanted to come to China, whether it was for traveling, studying or working, and my friends had always joked about me living in China during my Chinese study, and honestly I did imagine myself living there one day! It’s an incredible country, and all of the things you hear about it each day aren’t true and you’ll realize the true China once you arrive here, the culture is absolutely out of this world, it’s something that I’ve never experienced before, it’s absolutely incredible.

Were my feelings the same after I came to China?

Yes, but even more amazing. As I met a whole bunch of people, through students, people I met on a day to day basis, or even met randomly in the street or in the canteens, the people here are amazing and extremely welcoming. I thought the culture would be different to mine from living in the UK, but you can’t understand how vibrant and different it is unless you experience it for yourself. I found myself meeting and talking to incredible people from all over the world in China, people with so many stories, and all of the negative things you hear outside of China is complete rubbish, and you need to see this country for yourself.

The food

If you’re anything like me, then you’re obsessed with Chinese food in your home country. And being from the UK we often had Chinese takeaways from our local restaurants no matter where we were, and I just loved it! And seeing various posts, recipes and pictures of ‘proper’ Chinese food, I couldn’t help but drool at the prospect of going to China. Because let’s face it, the Chinese food back at home (for me the UK), can’t be classed as real proper authentic Beijing/Chinese food because it’s pretty much adapted for foreign tastes, unless you head to the local Chinese restaurants that are just for the Chinese. You’ll be eating like a king before you know it…

Were my feelings the same after I came to China?

Definitely, at points I was kind of sick of eating rice with dishes, but that’s the thing about the food here, you can eat literally anything you want, you’ll find restaurants from your own country, the food in china literally does cater for all. And the food here simply can’t be compared to that of the Chinese food in your home country, it just can’t. It’s in a completely different league, the food and diet is completely different (well it is in Beijing！) I got to the point that I was trying everything and anything I could find, and I probably spent barely anything in the process. In the cities, they have restaurants from all over China, from the different provinces, and the food is just incredible, the flavours, the smells even the look of the food makes you hungry as the waiters bring it by your table. And not only that, but the street food is to die for. Many a days me and my friends after playing football would head over to the local BBQ restaurant, grab a few beers and dine eating BBQ with the locals. The only problem was that when I left China to go back to the UK, I just couldn’t eat the Chinese food here, because it just wasn’t as good! During my time in China, I felt like I spent 90% of the time eating, whether it was breakfast from street stalls, or pizza or dumplings at night. Food was always on my menu, and you’ll find that too!

Traveling:

No matter what country you’re from, you’ve probably seen pictures of China, both from their festivals, the great wall, or simply their food. And being someone that always wanted to travel, I wanted to include this into the reasons to why I wanted to study in China.

Were my feelings the same after I came to China?

Didn’t change a bit. I had so many glorious adventures during my time in China, both by myself and with friends, some examples include going to the great wall in the middle of winter, we were literally the only 2 people on the whole of the great wall, and that was an incredible surreal experience! We went to a cat restaurant, where literally everywhere is surrounded by cats, everything from the sofas, to the walls, and there are cats underneath you, on top of you, on your table, in your bag, everywhere. Other amazing things include in Beijing I was able to see the forbidden city many times, Jingshan park, and also the Olympic park etc. And traveling in China is so simple but yet so beneficial for you, it feels so nice to be part of this incredible country and witness with your own eyes the various aspects that help build the culture and the country as a whole. Other places include the various temples around China and no matter what you’re into, from watching sports to meditating in temples, China has it all for you, that’s what I found.

Personal and professional satisfaction

They often say that china is the place to chase opportunities and to develop yourself.

Were my feelings the same after I came to China?

I really honestly agree with this. I feel that in only a year I changed an incredible amount, both professional and personally, I learnt a new language, I changed my thinking of the world and I started to appreciate things in life more, I realized how lucky many people are in this life, and how unlucky some people are too and that we need to be gracious of it. I learnt a lot during my time in China, I learnt many stories from people along my journey, met a huge range of people from local farmers to people who work in the government in China. And this gave me the opportunity to listen and to take in things that they say and learn more about life than what we hear on the news, especially in China.

So even though it’s a scary thing to move to a new country that maybe you don’t speak the language, just go for it, you’ll only regret it if you don’t try. You’ll love the food, the culture, the people, the smells, the sights, the sounds, and most of all you’ll never want to leave!

Summer Trip in China

Summer Trip in China

We organize a great trip in China which aims at promoting cultural exchange and educational travel in China for students. We took the time to create this trip according to students interests. When you travel with us we care about you and the details. What is important for you is important for us. We offer you a safe experience and an educational impact on your future.

This summer trip is especially for students who would like to study or travel in China. We know that it is difficult to visit an university in China when you are abroad that is why during this trip we give you the opportunity to visit four universities. At the same time, it is the best opportunity to discover China as you have never seen before. You will discover China through activities and excursion. It is a unique experience that you won’t forget for a lifetime. You will discover amazing places, experience a new culture, enjoy the local cuisine and visit different universities. This tour is the best way to help students gain new cultural experience and make them more open-minded.

The program : *From 6^thAugust to 19^th August 2017*

You won’t travel in only one city but in four wonderful cities in China. During 14 days you will be in total immersion among Chinese language and culture while visiting Beijing, Xi’an, Huai’an and Nanjing. 

The incredible program includes to visit the ancient Heritage of China (The Great Wall, The Terracota Army, Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum, Tieshan Temple…) and to participate to different activities for example, learning Chinese Kong Fu, learning how to make Chinese Dumplings or how to write Chinese calligraphy. 

Benefits :

• This trip will provide you so much fun as well as unforgettable friends and memories. 
• You could get $1320 scholarship from the universities.

Take your chance and participate !

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Send an email at studyinchina@hzlearning.com

Write your name, your age and your country. We will give you more information about the summer trip. 

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My favorite places to visit in Beijing (for those people who are looking to travel!)

1. Great Wall

I of course have to start off with one of the greatest things you can ever see in your life, The Great Wall. When me and my roommate decided to have a spontaneous trip to the great wall we didn’t really take into account anything before we went, like the time of year (early November) and didn’t judge how cold it would be until we actually got there… We firstly got up at around 7, headed to our local store, got some snacks, drinks and some gloves and headed towards the great wall using one of the buses to the great wall, and once we arrived at Badaling we realized why we were the only people who were actually there, because it was terrifyingly cold! I’d never experienced cold like it, but as soon as we got walking up the steps of the great wall and were arrived at the highest point, all we could see for miles and miles were various stretches of the great wall surrounded by beautiful green scenery and without a single soul with us, it was a peaceful quiet of which I’d never experienced ever before in my life. The feeling when you get here was truly surreal, I’d recommend it to anyone, even traveling in the cold, as it’s cold yes, but you’re not bombarded with thousands of other people, you can have this wonder of the world to yourself!

2. Lama Temple

Lama Temple in Beijing was the first place I visited on my trip in China, I got my packed lunch, drinks, camera and money and headed over to Lama Temple which at that time was only 2 stops away from my accommodation! Buying the ticket was easy, walk up to the window point out one finger and there you go! Pay your 20-40RMB ticket and you’ll have access to the whole temple. When I came it was just before Mid-Autumn Festival therefore there were more people setting up themselves for prayer, and walking around this place with your own sticks of incense, witnessing people praying to the Gods, and taking in the smells, sights, especially the architecture of the whole place you can truly appreciate why so many people come to Temples for peace of mind, it was extremely relaxing to be part of it and to be here in person. One of the greatest things about Lama Temple is the last Temple, which houses a 60ft statute of Maitreya (the future Buddha), which as you look up at the many stories that surround it, you often wonder how such an amazing thing can be created.

Not only inside the Temple, but outside the Temple has a vast network of Hutongs that are extremely interesting to walk down, many of which have some foreign cafes, in case you want to grab a sandwich or a coffee, or you can pay one of the many tiny gift shops a visit, most of which are ran by locals that live within the hutongs, definitely an experience you can’t miss.

3. Jingshan Park

Jingshan Park is the kind of place if you like views. Sitting overlooking the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park is the highest point within Beijing City, whereby it features 3 separate hills with the highest point providing a complete 360 view of the whole city, of which you can see for miles. Definitely somewhere that you need to go on a clear day, as you’ll be able to see Beihai Park, The Olympic Park, all of the hutongs in the centre, and on clear days you can even see as far as the CBD! It’s a bit of a walk, around 10 minutes steep uphill, but the walk up there is definitely worth it as the view is out of this world. There’s also a huge array of little stores that you can buy some gifts, or even have your photo taken in traditional Chinese clothes overlooking the Forbidden City. It’s also fascinating to read about the park before you go, and to also read the notices as you walk, as you can learn the true history of the park and how it became to be, so I’ll leave that for you!

4. Nanluoguxiang onto Houhai Lakes

Nanluoguxiang and Houhai lakes are one of the most popular tourist places in Beijing, but even quite touristy, they still have an incredibly original Chinese feel to them. Nanluoguxiang, probably one of the best places to go before people finish work, as you can walk down this main hutong of which has 100s of other hutongs spreading in different directions. This street is host to an array of gift stores, food stores, cafes, restaurants and also stores that certainly catch your eye, and you’ll know what I mean when you go there! Right next to the subway station, it’s often the main place for people who have just finished work who want to grab a snack and have a nice walk down some historical streets. The food in this place is incredible, and any kind of gift that you want to buy like fans, tea sets or even clothes, you can get from here.

Onto Houhai Lakes, this is the best place to go once you’ve been to Nanluoguxiang, especially at night, the whole area lights up with the bars, restaurants and stores opening their doors and turning on a spectacular light show, this place is extremely popular with tourists and also locals to have a walk around the lakes, and grab something to eat overlooking the houhai lakes, or to head to one of the many rooftop bars and watch the world go by, if that’s your kind of thing, then this is certainly the right place for you! Oh and many of the restaurants are adapted for foreigners so it’s great if your Chinese isn’t yet 100%!

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The Best and Worst thing about living in China

There are so many good things about living in China, it’s often difficult for people to recall their best ever experience from being in the country, whether they’re here for a short time or a long time period, every single day you can experience something completely new with this fantastic culture and country.

I’d say the best thing about living in China is the experiences that you’re going to have, especially with aspects such as the people, food and the sites that you’ll go and see. There are some fantastic places to see in China, some things that will likely take your breath away as you stand in awe of these things right in front of your eyes, like one of my favorite is the 26-metre-tall Buddha in the middle of the Lama Temple or in fact the Great Wall at Badaling, no matter what you see in China it’ll likely take your breath away.

The food, the food is one of the main talking points of everyone here in China, if you’re talking to someone in China the topics will likely be about food, as it’s such an important part of their culture as they have a vast range of dishes, all of which you need to try your best to try (even the strange things!). You’ll never be hungry in China, from breakfast to night, you’ll likely be stuffing your face full of the finest breakfast dishes, dumplings, rice dishes, hot pot and duck, the only problem is that you’ll never want a Chinese takeaway in your own country when you return, because you’ll miss this food too much!

But my favorite thing of China is the people, the people are what make China China. They’re extremely hospitable people, no matter where you are in the country, whether you’re in the middle of a bustling city or wandering around a tiny little village, you’ll probably have a few stares but nothing menacingly, they’re just happy that you’ve come to their country to have a look around. Throughout my whole time in China I’ve never once had a problem with anyone, everyone’s so smiley, helpful and warming to welcome you to the country. I’ve had many random people talk to me on the streets, ask me questions about my life, where I’m from etc. even when I was part of one of those ‘scams’ in China where someone takes you to a local tea shop for some very expensive local tea, I wasn’t even bothered and it was actually a really nice experience, because the woman paid for it, because I was polite to her and she wanted me to enjoy my first experiences in China, she even made sure that I had enough money for the entrance ticket into the Forbidden City and if I needed some help buying it she could do it for me!

Many a time in China I was invited out for dinner by the Chinese, or to various people’s houses to take part within their Spring Festival celebrations, of which I was extremely grateful for. At each point in China, every single Chinese person, whether they can speak your language or not, will try their best to help you, no matter what it’s for. That’s what makes people want to come back time after time.

Going onto what I’d say the ‘worst’ part of China is, I couldn’t even give you something solid, there’s not a lot you can say bad at all, everyone works so hard, everyone’s so welcoming, the food is amazing, the sights are amazing. The only hassle when being in China is the limited access to the internet over here, like accessing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. but even then, after not using it like a daily routine as you would in your own country, you just get used to using the Chinese version, and you even just realize that you don’t miss any kind of social media at all, and it soon becomes an unnecessary part of your life, of which I deleted most of them as I realized I didn’t miss any of them at all.

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