EXCHANGE REPORT Peking University

2018 FALL EXCHANGE REPORT

TIN TSZ WANG CHEVAN

BBA (GBUS & FINA)

MONTHLY LOG

SEPTEMBER Beijing I arrived in Beijing on 13 September, about one week before school starts. The weather was not

that bad, I met up with other exchange students at the airport and we headed to PKU by arranged

coaches. It was around 2pm but the traffic is really bad. It took us around 2 hours to jam all the

way back to HaiDian Qu where PKU is located.

Then I moved into my dorm, it was a double bunk bed dorm so I got 3 other roommates. For local,

mainland and Taiwanese students, we will be arranged to live on campus dorm like mine, for free.

However, for international students, you will be arranged to live in the international village right

opposite to the East Gate of PKU, which costs HKD 100 per night.

Then I started to explore around the school and the district. I went to different buildings and

different canteens. The food on campus was utterly cheap, and super yummy (as I always love

Chinese food haha).

20yuan 30yuan

I also figured out my courses and sit for many interesting courses as well like singing and chess. As

PKU can still drop courses around mid-November. You can always take as many courses as you like

in the first place, then drop it if it was really tough halfway through.

OCTOBER

Beijing | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Gansu | Qinghai

As the National Day of China is on 1st October, we have a week-long holiday to spend. I joined a CET

trip (you can search this on wechat) tour with my friend to Qinghai. The tour was designed for

international people like exchange students, expats and so on thus we have people from 20+

countries on the same coach!

It was a crazy journey to ride on a coach all the way to Qinghai and all the way back, passing Inner

Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu. Then we arrived at some stunning views in Qinghai. The Qinghai lake

and Chakka Salt Lake was very beautiful. And we have also learnt a lot about some Tibetan cultures

along the way.

Chakka Salt Lake Qinghai Lake

It was also my very first time seeing a desert in my life. I felt very special stepping on sand dunes

and even riding motorbikes over the desert in Gansu. Speaking of the very first time, I also rode on

a camel and actually seeing them for the very first time. Their humps were actually incredibly soft!

Over the desert in Mingsha Mountains, Dunhuang City, Gansu

Ejina Banner, far west of Inner Mongolia

November

Beijing | Tianjin

After a crazy October full of travelling, we are back to some school work and activities in November.

I joined the Singsong A Cappella group in PKU and we have rehearsals every Wednesday and Sunday.

We also have quite a few performances and competitions in November and December so the

rehearsals were a bit tight. But it was all good, I met singers from all over Asia and they were

completely amazing in terms of personality and singing. We performed on various occasions at

different student associations gala dinner, as well as entered the semi-finals for the famous PKU

Singing Contest. It was such a pity that we were only one spot away from entering the finals!

PKU SingSong A Cappella Group

I also participated in the Voice of China in Beijing! I sang a Cantonese song and actually got into the

next round after voting. However, the next round was in January and pity I was already gone then.

Voice of China Beijing Auditions

I also went on a solo trip to Tianjin, which is only 30mins away by high speed railway. A day trip is

already pretty enough and also very convenient.

December

Beijing Christmas was not really celebrated in the Mainland, let alone having holidays. So December was

basically A Cappella and studying. I have also been recording and uploading song covers on some

Mainland APPs trying to get famous (just joking :P).

At the same timing enjoying cheap campus food as well as authentic Peking roasted ducks.

Also got to revisit the Great Wall and Tsing Hua University just nearby.

As you may now see, most of my photos feature a blue sky. The air in Beijing was not really that

bad during the fall. There was some bad smog for just a few days over the 4 months of stay, and

the rest was lovely weather.

farewell dinner with some exchange students Friends from UST came over to visit me!

January

Beijing | Harbin | Dalian | Shenyang

Before Finals, I went on a trip to the Great Northeastern part of China, which of course was freezing.

We enjoyed the Ice World in Harbin where ice sculptures were everywhere. We also stepped on the

frozen Songhua River which is supposedly raging in Spring and Summer. We also experienced

overnight train in the Mainland and visited Dalian. To our surprise, Dalian was actually very Western

and had a really unique mix of cultures from both East and West. After the trip and finals, I headed

home.

EXCHANGE INFO.

1) Visa Procedures As a local, no visa was needed for PKU.

2) Orientation Activities

You will be invited into a Wechat group and activities will be posted there. There were some

orientation trips and food tour around Beijing etc.

3) International Services & Activities

You can always find help from the Wechat group. They can refer you to the right person.

(Yes, everything is about Wechat in the Mainland)

4) Accommodations

As mentioned, for local, mainland and Taiwanese students, we will be arranged to live on

campus dorm which is a double bunk bed room, for free. However, for international

students, you will be arranged to live in the international village right opposite to the East

Gate of PKU, which costs HKD 100 per night. Those are single rooms with shared bathroom

among 3 rooms.

5) Course Registration

The course registration system is slightly different from UST’s. You can put the courses into

your shopping cart way ahead of time. When the period of enrollment starts, you need to

give point weightings (out of 100) to all your courses, so it is bit like bidding for classes if

the class is very popular. However, if the class still has a lot of vacancies, then you don’t

have to allocate any point to it. The add drop period lasts for around 3 weeks and you can

always drop the course halfway through even 2 months in.

6) Finance & Banking (including currency / expenses)

I would recommend opening a bank account and deposit cash with one of the major retail

banks (ABC, CCB, BOC, ICBC) once you arrived as Wechat Pay, Alipay, all become super

handy when you link them to your bank account. Apart from on campus food which is paid

by student card, everything else is basically cashless. You can pay for anything via Wechat

Pay or Alipay.

7) Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities

There will be a Clubs Fair in the beginning weeks of class where you can know more about

different clubs and societies on campus. For me, I joined the Singsong A Cappella and met a

lot of wonderful singers and friends.

8) Health & Safety

Health insurance was covered by the school and medical expense in the school is not

expensive. I had a dentist appointment and had my teeth washed for 200yuan. Beijing was

really safe and don’t worry about travelling even at night.

9) Food

There are many dining options on campus, mostly in canteens. They have food from all over

China and you can basically try them all at a really low cost. However, food outside of

campus are not as cheap, similar to Hong Kong I’d say. But roasted duck, dumplings,

roasted lamb are must-try.

10) Transportation

Metro is super convenient around Beijing, just like Hong Kong. If you want to travel to other

cities, high speed railway is also very connected and convenient.

11) Climate

It gets a bit chilly in the fall, however there was not any snow until I left. Average

temperature was around 0 degree Celcius.

12) Communication

China Mobile is preferred. However, if you want to ensure access to Instagram and

Facebook, you might want to get a phone card in Hong Kong which gives you Mainland

number and Hong Kong number. As the server is in Hong Kong, you will not be restricted by

the Mainland network control.

13) What to bring • Business suits

• Electrical adaptors

• Personal laptop, camera

• Sunglasses and hats

• Swimsuits and thicker clothing (for travelling to colder areas)

• Money (you can always buy things you forget to bring, Taobao is cheap)