My story with China
My story of studying in China began back in 2017, when I received my first Chinese Government Scholarship to study at Tsinghua University. I have been to China twice before, but only for summer schools, never for a longer period of time.
I remember my very first day on campus in the Haidian district, just like it happened yesterday. It was a warm, sunny, mid-September day. I took off the taxi in front of the ZiJing dormitory and saw the purple (a Tsinghua color) banners welcoming new international students.
The very next day I finally met my Chinese buddy, Betty. It was literally love from the first sight, beginning of a friendship that endures till today. That day she took me on a tour around the beautiful campus, that used to be a Qing Dynasty garden, showed me the Lotus Pond and the Tsinghua Old Gate. This is where Tsinghua was established more than 100 years ago. Nowadays, the Old Gate is one of the most recognizable symbols of this world-class university. We also visited the ZiJing fields, a place where many students, including me, like to spend summer evenings under the Beijing skies.
Needless to say, Betty helped me a lot with adapting to life in China. Most importantly, she introduced me to the Chinese culture and thinking in a very natural way. Sheshowed me the best canteens on campus (Tingtao and ZiJing are my favorite) and let me taste various kinds of food, like 担担面, 油泼面, drink 酸梅汤 and the famous Tsinghua yoghurt. She brought me Chinese delicacies from her province (Shaanxi) like 枣, when she came back to campus after the Golden Week. She practiced Chinese language with me, and we spent many lunch breaks and dinners together. Moreover, often times we went to the New Tsinghua Xuetang Hall to listen to Chopin music concerts or to watch the Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky or see other concerts and spectacles.
Before I got to know her, I would never imagine that a person from such a different cultural background to a European can be so open-minded and become my best friend. I am very glad for this opportunity to challenge my preexisting notions of Chinese culture and its people, and I think that we both benefitted enormously from this experience.
Another aspect of my study experience is the quality of education at Tsinghua University. I was truly amazed by the academic staff and their teaching style. For instance, professor Yan Xuetong, who taught the course “Ancient Chinese Thought and Modern Rising Strategy”, usually would not give a student a direct answer to a question. Instead, he would ask another question, a hint, that allowed us to find the answers on our own. In this class, professor Yan Xuetong let me see China through the eyes of ancient Chinese philosophers.
Moreover, Tsinghua provides environment not only for academic, but also for personal development, through various student associations or events like “Ambassador Talks” or field trips. I participated in several, among them was a guided visit to the Confucius Temple in Beijing, Chinese calligraphy lesson and a field trip outside Beijing. After that amazing year, I was convinced to pursue my doctoral degree in China.
During my time at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I met many brilliant individuals, my classmates, who are a great inspiration for me. So far, the doctoral program has sharpened my skills and challenged me intellectually. To name just a few examples, in the Academic English class I learned to be precise, detail-oriented, but at the same time parsimonious. Quantitative Research methods class teacher taught me that, often times, we have to face a trade-off: we get an internal validity at the cost of external validity. Just like in real life – sometimes we have to sacrifice something, to gain something else. Professor who teaches Qualitative Research methods class told us that, as researchers, we should be versatile. Even if we want to specialize in only one kind of methodology (qualitative or quantitative), it is important to learn and know what others are doing and what they are thinking. Thanks to the Statistics class, I feel that I understand the world much better. However, most importantly, my supervisor is a great inspiration for me, as he teaches us to critically evaluate the world we are facing now and motivates us to strive for academic excellence. The supportive atmosphere at the department and the well-organized study program are some of the assets of this program.
To conclude, studying in China has helped me move away from a Eurocentric
viewpoint and understand China from a different perspective. The experience at Tsinghua University was far beyond my expectations and convinced me to continue my educational path in China, and who knows, maybe my future career. The Tsinghua spirit and motto „Actions speak louder than words” is something I take with me.
No matter how far.
International Expert 