My Exchange at Tsinghua University – Business
Everything You Need to Know About Tsinghua University as an International Student
I went to Tsinghua University on exchange during the Spring Semester 2024. It was incredible to experience such a drastically different culture and way of life. With language barriers and new systems, there was a lot to learn. This article will share all my insights about life at Tsinghua.
1.Campus
The campus is enormous, functioning like a city with supermarkets, banks, parks and ponds.
Everyone bikes around. You can buy second-hand bikes on-campus or bike subscriptions from Alipay, Didi, or Meituan.
There’s no culture of wearing helmets, but do bike carefully, because most of my friends, including myself, have had fender benders. Two of my friends had to go to hospital from bike crashes.
2.Facilities
The North Gymnasium opened in 2023. It is grand and shiny, with table tennis rooms, basketball courts, a gym, and even a skiing room. Its ice-skating rink is free for students on weekdays 8-9am. All the gear is provided for you.
There are countless fields and tracks. One popular spot is Zijing Field, where you can do all sorts. Groups of friends often hangout to chat or play music together in the evenings while others go for runs and walks or play frisbee and football.
Tsinghua has 16 different canteens, including Muslim and Western food. Each canteen will have its speciality dish. Many international students’ favourite canteen was Zijing or Taoli.
C-building has a lot of admin offices, like China Mobile (get your Chinese mobile number and plan here), delivery services, the bank, the supermarket, and a hair salon. Based on word-of-mouth, do not get your hair cut at C-building.
3.Accommodation
Most people stay in accommodation on-campus.
It is 40RMB a day for a double room (with a roommate) and 80RMB for a single (individual room, own bathroom) or AB room (two individual connected rooms, so you have an indirect roommate).
4.Location
Most of the Beijing universities are in similar area in Haidian district. This is on the outskirts of the city, so it takes about 1 hour to metro anywhere interesting in Beijing. However, the metro is very efficient, well air-conned, and clean.
Wudaokou is a nearby area, popular amongst students with its restaurants, bars and clubs.
5.Friendships
You must be proactive to interact with Chinese local students because of the language barrier. Chinese students can be shy to interact because they’re self-conscious about their English being bad, but they are literally some of the smartest, most hard-working students in China, coming from all over the country to Beijing.
The School of Economics and Management (SEM) also had a buddy programme. My buddy became a great friend and was also super helpful, especially when first arriving at Tsinghua.
6.Courses
Classes have no online recordings, so you must go in-person to not miss content. Some classes take attendance. Many classes have weekly homework. Yes, it sounds a bit like high-school again, doesn’t it.
Like high-school, classes run on a timetable with a bell ringing every 45 minutes. The first period begins at 8am, while the last class ends at 8.55pm. 3-credit classes are 2h25minutes long, while 2-credit classes are 1h35minutes long. There is a 5-minute break every 45 minutes.
7.Costs
Everything was very cheap compared to NZ. Accommodation prices were low, as previously mentioned. My canteen meals would cost on average 15-20 yuan (3.5-4.7NZD) but could easily be 3-4 yuan (0.7-0.9NZD) if you go to the second floor of Zijing canteen for example. A meal delivered to your dorm may be about 30 yuan (7NZD). Going out for meals might be more expensive, such as 100 yuan (23NZD). Buying things online like clothes, stationary, and accessories is also very cheap, and items can often arrive in two days.
8.Technology
Technology in China is a major culture shock.
Everything is paid via QR codes with Alipay and WeChat. Cash doesn’t exist.
I recommend setting up WeChat in your home country and attaching a Wise card to it if you can. That being said, WeChat gave me so many problems that I had to set up a new one in China on my first day with my new Chinese phone number. I opened a new Chinese bank account and attached that to my WeChat and Alipay.
Definitely have a portable charger because your phone battery is everything. If your phone dies in public, you won’t be able to catch the metro home, call a taxi, hire a bike, or translate your cry for help.
Must-have apps:
·Alipay – for ordering Didis, taking transport like metro/bus, translation, payments etc
·Wechat – for web browsing, finding official accounts to buy attraction tickets, socialising, payments etc
·VPN – download a few apps before you arrive; letsVPN and Astrill VPN were most widely used amongst internationals, but VPN reliability can change over time
·Baidu ditu (百度地图) or Gaode ditu高德地图 for maps
·Xiao Hong Shu – like Chinese Instagram, use to build travel itineraries
·Meituan – for food delivery
Optional:
·Railway12306 – official train-booking app
·Xie Cheng (携程旅行) – for travel
·Baidu
·Microsoft Edge – VPN-free browsing (Bing, I know)
·Taobao
·Douyin
·Bilibili
·Didi
If you have a passion for new cultures or a connection to China, I really recommend choosing Tsinghua for exchange. Being in a country so starkly contrasting the West comes with challenges, but also a lot of insight that can shape your understanding of the world.
I think there are a lot of false perceptions about China that create a certain stigma about going there. I thought Beijing would be chaotic and dirty, only to find it peaceful and green. I thought there might be theft and crime, only to find millions of cameras watching you at every angle, making it one of the safest places you could be (although questionable, yes). My experience was often surprising, occasionally shocking, but overall enriching and fulfilling. I hope it will be the same for you.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
One of my highlights was exploring Chinese culture. One example of this was joining a gongfu camp where we learned Chinese kungfu moves from a small, 60-year-ish old lady for a few weeks. I also joined a Zen retreat with Tsinghua during the holiday, where we learned different types of meditation, ate vegetarian, and had our phones locked up from us. I was the only white person there. The experience was both painful and enriching. Another highlight was being amongst an amazing international community, getting to meet all sorts of people from around the world who’d all chosen – or ended up in – Beijing. Everyone has different backgrounds and worldviews to share, which is super fun and exciting. Finally, I loved the nature in Beijing. This one surprised me. But I loved going to nearby parks and mountains to relax and watch the sunset, photograph the flowers, or do hikes. It was quite therapeutic.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
I would recommend joining the language exchange WeChat group, with 400-500 students mostly wanting to practise their English or Chinese. A few may want to practise different languages. Ask around to find this group if you’re really interested in boosting your Chinese skills. Also a great way to make friends.
During the clubs fair, join anything you’re remotely interested in because some clubs won’t let you join in partway through the semester. Just being added to their WeChat group will be enough.
Tsinghua’s North Gymnasium has an ice-skating rink, where students can skate for free on weekdays from 8-9am. The facility gives you all necessary gear. Definitely worth trying out.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
- Have a basic understanding of the functions of WeChat, Alipay, the payment system in China, have a good VPN etc
- Be proactive to get to know Chinese local students and participate in on-campus activities
- Find a good group of friends early on in the semester who match your travel-vibe to travel together on weekends
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
I had a scholarship from the Chinese government which was really helpful for budgeting and meant I didn’t have to worry as much compared to without it. With China, things tend to be fairly cheap compared to the West, so it’s a good location to choose if you’re concerned about costs.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
One of my biggest takeaways was learning patience and adaptability in navigating daily life and academics with the language barrier. What was so terribly difficult initially (like using Chinese-interface apps) became second nature later on. I learned how to converse with others despite language barriers to still have meaningful interactions. The environment also motivated me to improve my Chinese skills.
The exchange also allowed me to view the Chinese way of thinking and culture from afar to observe the similarities and differences with the West, which was super fascinating. These also made for fun conversations with other international students to talk about our observations and opinions.
It was special to be able to be in classes with local students who work so hard and get near-perfect grades. It was motivating to study with them and learn their habits. Tsinghua also had this amazing class called Human Computer Interaction with a great professor, Yi Chen. It was a fascinating and practical course. it helped me to discover more about my interests and passions, sparking ideas for future careers.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
The cities I travelled to in China during my exchange included:
- Xian – busy, bustling, great historical spots
- Shanghai – exciting, bustling atmosphere with modern shopping and clubbing
- Inner Mongolia – the “New Zealand” of China, but don’t trust everything Chinese people say 🙂
- Dalian – amazing seafood
- Tianjin – a fantastic day trip from Beijing (30 minutes via train)
A couple other common travel spots included:
- Qingdao – beaches and beer
- Chengdu – a big city further South famous for pandas, also has great shopping
- Guilin – famous for its hilly landscapes
I recommend downloading Railway12306 to buy train tickets officially. The account setup can be difficult though and you need to buy tickets in advance usually. Xie Cheng dolphin app is a third-party seller for train tickets, planes, and hotels. I used this the most, however, it has interesting algorithms and adds on extra charges. My friends and I often talked about weekend trips a few weeks advance but would actually sit down and do the bookings the week of or even a few days before.
Final Comments
I do have a longer version of the Exchange Report with a couple more aspects about Tsinghua life and campus
You can read the full version at www.stellaspirit.co.nz/blog
Also, Tsinghua asked us to prepare some health report documents (blood type, diseases etc) beforehand which took weeks to do with my doctor in Auckland, running around to different facilities getting specialised tests and it was very expensive, hundreds of dollars. All three of us UoA nominated Tsinghua students did it this way. It turns out you could just do it for a fraction of the price (maybe thirtyish NZD) and in about ten minutes in Beijing at the health centre where we needed to drop off our documents anyway.