About Tsinghua from First Hand

[bijian]

Thank you all for helping me know what to expect in my trip to China. This thread is a response to that help and I want to give my story about getting into Tsinghua as Language Student for Fall 2007.

About me: Virginia, US college student going for language study, planning for 5 months to 1 year

Timeline:

March 2007, application to study abroad sent to Tsinghua foreign student affairs office

June 2007, admission letter plus necessary material to enter China was received

July 2007, went to Chinese embassy and applied for X visa, cost about $150.00

4 September 2007, flew to Beijing, $580 (non-stop) via STATravel.com

5 September 2007, 2pm, arrived Beijing airport, got a cab, went to Tsinghua for ~110rmb

5 September 2007, ~3pm, went to Foreign student affairs office (FSAO) at Tsinghua

5 September 2007, I registered for a double room, ~5600 rmb for 6 months

7 September 2007, got a medical checkup at Beijing International Health Center, ~500rmb

11 September 2007, picked up medical results, registered for classes at FSAO

11 September 2007, got medical insurance for half a year for 400rmb from University

14 September 2007, took written and oral placement exams

I'm blogging about the trip here:

http://secrethiddenspace.spaces.live.com/

Interesting experience so far:

I biked to heart of Beijing from Tsinghua to pick up my medical results from the Beijing

International Travel Health Center by following the metro line and asking people how to

get to a metro station,i.e. Abdingmen, that is pretty close to the Beijing International

Travel Health Center. I got lost for two hours, but during this time I asked alot of people

for directions and practiced Mandarin, and everyone was so nice and helpful. The whole

trip took 6 hours because I went all around Beijing, but now that I have analyzed what

I did, I realize it should'nt have taken more than 4 hours, and possibly even 3 hours since

I biked slower when I got tired after 3~4 hours.

Any questions regarding initiation or "how to get started" or something, please feel free to ask.

[adrianlondon]

Nice-ish route from centre of Beijing to Tsinghua involves going north along the street parallel and to the east of Nan/Beiheyuan Jie (I think it's called something like "Dongguangchenggenbei Jie") until you get to Di'anmenxi Jie. Then go north along the east shore of the Houhai three-lake combo.

Then wiggle NW until you join Xinjiekouwai Dajie. Go north all the way until Qinghua Lu and then go west. Or, wiggle NW not far after crossing the 3rd ring road going along the canal for part of the way.

You'll need a decent map, obviously (as my directions are quite vague, I know). Should take an hour if you cycle at a decent rate. Longer if you're not a regular cyclist or like to stop and admire the view along the way.

Definitely get a map. I cycled loads in Beijing and it's really really hard to get properly lost. Yes, you can end up not knowing exactly where you are, but just keep going until you find your way out of the hutong, or otherwise hit a decent junction, then simply find where you are on the map.

If you don't already have some very basic "map" Mandarin, learn the pinyin and characters for the compass points, and "inner" and "outer" and you'll be fine.

[mk063]

Sorda related...How long does is take bike from BLCU (east gate, or any other gate that you think is closer) to Wangfujing? Can you pls tell me the best route to take? Really appreciate it... thx

[adrianlondon]

Cycle East until you get to Zhixindong Lu, then go South and follow my route above in reverse, cycling past BNU (find it on a map), down along Houhai, then SE until you get there.

Sticking to the main roads instead of going along the small roads running along the lakes (Xihai Houhai Qianhai) will save you around 15 minutes but it's not as fun.

You can't wheel your bike along, let along cycle along, Wangfujing itself, so work out whether you want to lock your bike at the north or south end of it. I usually pick the north; it's quieter.

If you're not in a hurry, then cycle around getting slightly lost in the hutong around the Drum and Bell Tower, then cycle along Bei/Nanluoguxiang. Loads of great coffee bars there and, if you're from the UK and have been in Beijing for 6 months (the situation I was in) you can grab very decent fish & chips, and take them back to houhai, sitting by the lake eating them while Chinese people stare at you wondering what those strange non-rice things are that you're eating