did you know? lots of Qs, and help with BLCU and BFSU

[bt1000]

First of all, hello, this is my first post. This forum is amazing, and is by far the best resource i have stumbled upon when trying to find information about studying in China.

I have read many posts on this board, and am yet to find some answers to a few questions I have about studying in China.

To understand what I'm on about, let me give you the context of my trip and some background on me

I want to go study Chinese in Beijing as soon as my uni semester and exams finish. In Australia, for me, its pretty much the 1st dec 05 to mid Feb 2006. I have studied chinese in high school for about 2 years, but this was about 5-6 years ago, so i know the basics, but not much else.

In my research so far, what i have found is that some universities (e.g Tsinghau and beijing normal uni) don't accept individual applicants for short term courses (by directly stating this on their websites), and if they do, the short term programs seem quite restrictive (e.g no courses during dec-feb, like Peking Uni). Thats where it seems those external middleman companies come in handy. Also, some unis don't have scheduled short term structured classes, but their websites say they accept applicants "all year round". My dad prefers I do a "structured" class, but has anyone done one of these seemingly unstructured "all year round" classes?

But my main question is does Beijing Language and Culture Uni accept individual applicants? Have any Australians applied for this by directly applying? I have emailed BLCU and have not received a reply yet (its been more than a week).

Also, my other main question, during the dec-feb time period, the longest course BLCU have is 5 weeks. I want to learn chinese for longer than that. If i do enrol at BLCU, can anyone recommend studying elsewhere (or something else) in the quiet January period?

How did people go about applying for there course.... Did people find the website through here, then email? or call? before they applied, and then apply or what?

And finally, Has anyone heard of the Beijing Foreign Studies University (Beijing Waiguoyu Daxue), also called Bei Wai. Apparently this university is one of Beijing's most prestigious academic institutions. http://www.bfsu.edu.cn

The site doesn't have an english button that works, so i can't find out what programs they have. I can't even find an email address. Does anyone have their contact details?

any other ideas/suggestions are welcome

cheers

brandon

[Adam]

I studied at Bei Wai last Nov untill late December. I went by myself and was told that after sitting a placement test I could join the full time classes. Unfortunately the Chinese semester finishes sometime in December (i think), so you would have to find something else after that. But it is possible. I cant find their english website, they have changed their Chinese website since I last checked as well.

Unfortunately haven't kept any emails from the Overseas Students Affairs office, but I do remember the person to talk to is Jiang Bao Hong.

If you are only going to be in China over your summer break then I suggest just getting a tourist visa, valid 90 days, as getting a letter of invitation was near impossible for me.

They were sweet about letting me live in the student dorms even after my course had finished, and I think i was only paying us$70/week for joining the full time course.

If you have any questions about bei wai just ask, hopefully someone else can hook you up with an email address!

[Min]

BFSU is an university for Foreign language teaching for Chinese. But it has a department named International Exchange Institute, which has a Chinese training centre for foreigners. The courses are about short-terms, half year, one year or more. About short-terms, it says, there are some kinds, depending on time and levels. The shortest one is about one week. Mainly it caters groups, but it shows that they accept individual too. Above is some info. about BFSU, please check it.

Website: www.bfsu.edu.cn

Email address to applicant for learning Chinese: bwgjyb@mail.bfsu.edu.cn

Other places for your need,

Foreign Affairs Department of Communication University of China. This university is for training radiobroadcaster or MC of TV station. So I think the teachers here could have the most wonderful pronunciation. You can get more from its English version in www.cuc.edu.cn.

College of Chinese Language & Culture of Beijing Normal University. This school is for training teacher. Since I couldn't find its English version for main page, I send you its college link here, http://219.224.18.113 From it you can find English one.

College of International Education of Capital Normal University. They also have long or short term classes for Chinese learning. Its link is www.cnu.edu.cn/english

BLCU is an university for foreign students in particular. You could find friends from many countries.

By the way, I'm afraid you won't have enough free time for other business. Most of them make many program for studying, such as visit, trip or eating

Good luck!

[artichoke]

Hi Brandon

I'm in Canberra. I applied directly to BLCU as an individual - I went to a local branch of my Australian bank and gave them the details that BLCU provides on their website and did a telegraphic transfer directly from my account into the BLCU account.

I then mailed a copy of the receipt and the application form to BLCU directly.

I then waited for my acceptance letter which promptly arrived as BLCU indicated it would - via an email I sent - to which they responded to the same day.

That's basically all you have to do as far as being accepted into a course. Once you get your letter it's a matter of organising air tickets, visa, vaccinations etc. The lonely planet guide and this website are great resources for working out what you need to do before take-off.

As far as money/payment goes for BLCU you don't pay for tuition or accomodation until you're at the campus itself. So if you decide last minute not to go, and you haven't forked out for tickets, all you lose is about $100 AUD in the application fee (including the bank's TT fee).

Hope that helps.

Btw, I fly out on Fri ... so can't give you any further info besides the above until I get there!!

Oh and I'm not sure where in Australia you are, but remember it will be summer here when you arrive in freezing cold (-10*C lows!!) Beijing!

[bt1000]

Thankyou all for your prompt responses. They all have been extremely helpful.

Adam: Thanks in particular re info about visa. Do you have any other helpful tips? Like if you could do your trip again, what would you change, and what are things you now know that would make it a smoother and better experience? Also, if you don't mind, i would love to hear how it went.... what was it like at the start adjusting, how was the teaching quality, what did you do weekends, and how much has your Chinese improved?

Sorry for the huge amount of questions...ofcourse these questions are open to everyone aswell.

Min: Thanks very much for the email. I could not find it, even using online translators. I have just emailed them. Thankyou. I checked those other sites you recommended, CUC doesn't accept individuals, the 2nd link (http://219.224.18.113/) doesn't work, and I'm just wondering..... what would give me a better learning experience - going to a "normal university" (which i hear is for teachers) or simply a language university (such as BLCU or BFSU).

Artichoke: The detail in your post was exactly what i was after. Cheers for that. So from what your saying, IT IS POSSIBLE to apply as an INDIVIDUAL at BLCU. I'll keep in mind the -10 degrees! Please keep me updated on your travels, I'll be very interested to know how you go. Good luck with it all. And make sure you take lots of photos. Out of interest, what jabs did you get? I've already got a hep A/B, but thats about it. Did anyone else get vaccinated?

I have found out that the short term course ends in mid-January. Does anyone have any suggestions of studying chinese from mid-January to mid February?

Also, I would love some further information on anyones study experiences (especially if they went individually) in China if its possible. Thanks

[artichoke]

Hi Brandon

As for vaccinations - I highly recommend a visit to the Travel Doctor. The website:

http://www.traveldoctor.com.au

The website lists a heap you can have - up to you what you are willing to have, and where in China you will travel, and when. In the freezing months, you may not require anti-Malaria vaccine for instance, even if you're travelling down the Yangtze.

Plus if you visit the Travel Doc you can be prescribed medications which you normally have to be ill to be given in Australia. But they're not on the PBS so you have to pay full price. My visit cost about AUD$200 for the appointment and the medical kit. All up my other injections were about AUD$200, but if you have private health you can claim some of this back.

There's already lots of different info on people's study experiences here on the forum - just go through ALL the posts in the Uni & Schools forum

[Adam]

If I could go again I wouldn't stay in University accomodation. Its expensive (comparatively) and the facilities are average. Its ideal for the first time, but now I know the area and am pretty comfortable there.

Another tip, unless you can be bothered opening a bank account in china, i'd recommend just loading money onto a credit card and using an ATM. This way you pay no fees and the exchange rate is quite good.

I had a wiked trip, I study Chinese here in NZ (how 'bout that game on sat aye? haha..) In the first weeks I felt I had improved about the equivilant of 3 months study here. Its deffinately worth the investment, you'll have the time of your life!

Weekends, I went out with friends, went to the gym, nights out in Wudaokou. I actually went flatting with one of my classmates in my last month there, that was probably my best memory of being there.

After my course finished I travelled down to Shanghai, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou. If you didnt want to travel then you could always find a private language tutor, even a language partner, to continue studying.

Almost everyday I got lost, but in the end I think I got to know Beijing pretty well. I'll be back in January - Lets go for a beer! Anything else you want to know? I remember trying to read everything I could before I left, try reading blogs etc..

[amandagmu]

I'm thinking of going back again too! I took two semesters of Chinese here in the U.S. and could read, write but not speak a lick of Chinese, let alone understand jack s**t the day I arrived.

I'll be honest. The first week and a half or so is fairly traumatic. You don't know what's going on when people talk to you and not many people off campus speak any English. In some respects it's like being thrown to a pack of wild dogs.

On the other hand... I skipped from level 100 to 300 this year at my university after spending the summer at BLCU and so far have zero problems in the class... in fact, I can hear and speak the language faster than most my classmates who are entering their third year of Chinese without having left the U.S. And I only had to take a few weeks out of my summer to get there.

Also, to answer your other questions:

- I applied to BLCU and got in directly, as an individual. I'm fairly anti-group things so I try to do things on my own.

- When you get to BLCU check the bulletin boards for language partners and tutors. They're plentiful and not too much $. Most importantly: write down a lot of numbers (there are lots of flyers) and meet people before committing. Sometimes you get people who would rather only speak English and you *don't* want that. You may need to explain either it's an exchange or you're paying so they need to speak Chinese. Don't worry, after hearing it for 4 hours a day every day in class it'll be easy with the tutor/lang partner

- As for other classes and schools. Also look for flyers and ask lots of people around campus. In just 6 weeks I found out about plenty of other places offering short term classes, tutoring, group classes nearby etc etc. It's much easier to find once there. BLCU is in a highly popluated university area with tons and tons of places to get more language learning in, trust me.

~Amanda

[amandagmu]

As the previous poster says, keep posting questions if you have them and I'll keep responding with what I know. I remember how frustrating it was looking for housing. I wrote a post about this and placed it somewhere else on the board, do a search for BLCU and it will come up. I posted everything I could remember that I know about housing in the BLCU vicinity.

[bt1000]

Thanks for the info guys.

I'm going to apply into BLCU soon. All I have to work out is what I'm going to do after the 5 week short term course at BLCU. I want to study chinese for another 4 weeks if possible (from 19th Jan to late Feb). Any new suggestions?

I actually found a university that fits perfectly. Ideally I would like to stay in Beijing, but I can't find a short term course beyond BLCU. So there is the Dalian uni of foreign language - http://www.dlufl.edu.cn/, near Beijing apparently.

Has anyone heard of it/reputution/any good/bad comments?

Also, regarding the Beijing Foreign Studies University (Beijing Waiguoyu Daxue) or Bei Wai, the email address I got bounced - does anyone else have their contact details? Or could someone who can read mandarin goto http://www.bfsu.edu.cn and find an email address for me? The site doesn't have an english button that works, so i can't find out what programs they have.

Just wondering Adam, how did you find out about BFSU and how did you apply for the classes? And you're going back to China in January....To study? That would be cool to grab a beer, private message me your email and we'll set it up.

Anyway, the main question I would like to (re)ask is

- if you could do your trip again, what would you change, and what are things you now know that would make it a smoother and better experience?

and one more about money matters - I was reading a world travel guide, and apparently ATMs aren't a good method to get money out. Is this true from your experience? What was your main source of money and what back up did you use (e.g credit cards, travellers cheques, etc).

thanks in advance

[Shadowdh]

As the previous poster says, keep posting questions if you have them and I'll keep responding with what I know. I remember how frustrating it was looking for housing. I wrote a post about this and placed it somewhere else on the board, do a search for BLCU and it will come up. I posted everything I could remember that I know about housing in the BLCU vicinity.

Heres the link for that post... http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/63-taiwanese-writer-san-mao26

[amandagmu]

I used the ATM on the BLCU campus and it worked the best. I could take out 3000 RMB max at one time. For tuition, either go twice to the ATM (once the first day you get there and again the other day) or bring travellers check and exchange into RMB. In USD tuition was $580 but I wish I had known how picky they are about credit cards ahead of time. I ended up paying about $610 because they 4% if you use a credit card. The reason I recommend ATM for everything else is that on campus you're unlikely to get ripped off from an ATM that everyone has to use. At some random bank on the economy you can get handed fake bills and not even know it. And by the way, fake money is apparently a known problem there, a lot of people will check your 50s and 100s when you use them. They even have special machines for this.

One big thing I was not prepared for is how haphazardly run things like registration and room and board are. You can't pay or reserve anything ahead of time for this. That's why I'm telling you flat out that if you want to study at another university in Beijing or in that area on a short-term basis just wait until you get there to decide. Honestly, no one there (outside of the big universities like Qinghua and Beida) plans ahead of time for anything... this bothered me a helluva lot when I first got there! I am the one of those super-organized freaks who knows their schedule months ahead of time. I tried to plan everything for my July Beijing trip back in April-May (essentially what you're doing now) and I STILL couldn't get everything the way I wanted, it's incredibly frustrating. To give you an idea of the scale of how last minute some things are there: you CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT buy train tickets in China further than 4 days out. This is the absolute truth. If you ask a Chinese person there they act like "well, duh, of course you can't, we all know that". So, for instance, when someone buys a ticket to Shanghai from Beijing they have to wait until they get to Shanghai to buy the return ticket! How ridiculous is that!! I rest my case.

Now, I have to go pack -- I fly from Washington DC to Sydney tomorrow!! wooo!!

~Amanda

[amandagmu]

I forgot to add a few important things:

- CREDIT CARDS are almost worthless there except for using them for cash advances out of ATMs. Even my hotel preferred upfront cash and gave me a much better rate for it. Remember this about China: it is still very much a cash-only economy, including for very large purchases like trips through travel agents, buying a new bike, and I would bet that even things like cars are bought on cash. Plan to go to the ATM when paying for anything and everything.

- there's an excellent GUIDEBOOK that's difficult to find, although I got it online from Amazon: that's beijing editors put out "Insider's Guide to Beijing". Not only did this majorly help me plan ahead of time, but so many people used it in my class that I had to bring it nearly every day for people to copy info out of it. It has everything in it from grocery stores to dentist phone numbers and hospitals (western medicine), to sight seeing, to gyms and hiking clubs, and most importantly everything with CHINESE NAMES AND ADDRESSES! This is vital. Very, very few cab drivers speak English or know pinyin. Better to hand them the book and point to the Chinese address.

- This is another big point I almost forgot to mention. CAB DRIVER from the airport to the university. DO NOT TAKE AN ILLEGAL TAXI. They will rip you off if they can. Anyone who does not have an official taxi sign on the top and a receipt box upfront is illegal!!!! Even if you think it might be cheaper, at least get a feel for the land before trying something this risky.The difference in cost could be a regular cab 70-80 RMB compared to an illegal cab being upwards of 160RMB (esp if you have no clue what it really costs) because they know you don't know what you're doing and will charge you an arm and a leg.

Amanda

[amandagmu]

Heres the guidebook:

The Insider's Guide to Beijing (Paperback)

by Adam Pillsbury

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7810368788/qid=1126835837/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8792333-6881730?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

# Paperback: 640 pages

# Publisher: Shantou University Press (September 15, 2004)

# ISBN: 7810368788

[roddy]

The 2005 edition of the Insider's Guide will be coming out at the end of the month, according to the thatsbj.com website, so you might want to wait a while. Sculpting in Time in Wudaokou has copies for sale (of the 2004 edition) at one point, so you could try looking in there if you can't get it off Amazon.

Roddy

[kudra]

Anybody know if Adam Pillsbury of the Insider's Guide is any relation to Michael Pillsbury, the sinologist associated with the Pentagon/Rand?

[bt1000]

Thanks for the tips Amanda, you've been a great help. And i'll be waiting for that new edition thanks Roddy.

i'm actually in the process of arranging dates, flights, etc

and just wondering firstly when's an ideal time to fly in (ie the day before, week before the course starts)/when did you fly in and did you wish it was earlier/later.

Also are cheap flights to get from Beijing to Dalian? For example, Australia has the national budget airlines such as Virgin Blue and Jetstar, Europe has Easyjet and RyanAir, does China have something like that?

[doughboy]

Hey guys, here's the Amazon link to the new Insider's Guide (the 2005-06 edition). http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/097733340X/qid=1131414443/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-7096793-1303164?v=glance&s=books

Beijingers can also buy the less expensive, domestic edition of the book directly from that's Beijing and get it delivered for within the Fourth Ring Road for RMB 10. The book is also sold in shops around town. For more info, log onto www.insidersguide.com.cn

[Medich]

Hello Brandon. I have read some of the posts here. I am Chinese. I attened some English classes in BFSU for 2 years but I do not know too much about foreign students studying and living informations in the universtiy. I can help you consult the university some time if you like. Contact me at aocno1@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

[adrianlondon]

Just thought I'd stick my oar in with a couple of semi-relevant points.

The BFSU website's english version has been dead for ages. I spoke with someone here in Beijing to studied there recently and he couldn't find any useful info for me either. In other words, there was nothing very useful on the website's chinese version about foreigners studying chinese. My new friend spent 4 years studying russian there. Strikes me as being a bit old fashioned I've come to the conclusion that if there is no English language info on the web site, then the University isn't really interested in taking on independent students such as myself. So BFSU has been ruled out.

The second point is regarding the info above on the "Insider's Guide to Beijing" book. I got hold of a copy a few days ago (60RMB) from a bookshop and I also recommend it. There aren't any maps worth looking at, and some of the addresses are vague, but it's well written.

it isn't a tourist guide (don't expect easy directions and price/opening info for the main tourist attractions) but once you've got past that level of understanding it's a great guide. It will be very handy for when I return next year to study for a few weeks/months.