jonny.potter Posted February 9, 2009 at 10:22 AM Report Posted February 9, 2009 at 10:22 AM Hi Im starting a Mandarin program at Tsinghua in Feb and just wanted to see if there was anyone else out there doing the same thing. Quote
zerolife Posted February 10, 2009 at 08:51 PM Report Posted February 10, 2009 at 08:51 PM I was a former student of the program ... it's an excellent program ... unfortunantly, they moved the program into a new building right across the dorms. yeah it's a much more convenient location (new supermarket right in the basement of the building) but one of the most enjoyable thing when I studied there was the ~10 minutes bike ride to the crappy wu duan lou (the former main building of the chinese language program) right at the gate to the Tsinghua High School and getting laughed at by the students for carrying Chinese elementary school books also quality of the teachers vary greatly ... some of the teachers don't like Western students because they are perceived as slower than the Korean/Japanese students. however, you can request to be switched to another class if you talk to the office (I did even through for another reason) Quote
miss-amy Posted February 11, 2009 at 02:03 PM Report Posted February 11, 2009 at 02:03 PM yeah hi there i'll be taking that course, i'm pretty much a beginner (i did 3weeks of classes over the summer in Hangzhou!) how about you? I just arrived in Beijing today actually- flown in from Manchester. I'm staying in a hostel until some time mid registration week...will you be in the international dorms? Quote
jonny.potter Posted February 12, 2009 at 10:04 AM Author Report Posted February 12, 2009 at 10:04 AM thanks for the info zerolife. yeah im in the international dorms staying in building number 23 room 0210, it would be gd to meet up.... so far i haven't met any other English students but i have only been here a day. the room is gd (better than KCL in the UK) and i am sharing with a korean 4th year architecture student. My mandarin is awful (i only know the odd word and character) so your three weeks should put you in good stead. My advice would be to stay elsewhere until as close to registration as possible because we cant get a food card or internet password until then and therefore i have to travel outside the uni to get food. Also there seems to be plenty of rooms and not a lot going on because of the holidays so you wont miss anything although if you wanted a single room then maybe come a couple days earlier than registration to be safe. Quote
miss-amy Posted February 13, 2009 at 03:59 AM Report Posted February 13, 2009 at 03:59 AM Fantastic thanks for the info, I'm not sure I'm going to move into the dorms at all- I'm quite keen to get a flat but it would be really handy to have a room on campus for the first few weeks at least- do you know if you can get a room for just a month or something? Do you have to pay a certain amount of rent in advance? Quote
jonny.potter Posted February 13, 2009 at 03:52 PM Author Report Posted February 13, 2009 at 03:52 PM In my apartment block there is a hotel which i think anyone can stay, you may have to stay there if you want to stay for less than a month because I think there is a 6 month minimum to stay in the dorms, but if you ask they might be able to let you stay for less. Also there is in effect a 200Y deposit but you also have to pay up front for the time you intend to stay (the longer you say you want to stay the cheaper the daily rate), this is kind of annoying as (a) you might want to leave and find an apartment and (B) it means daily trips to the ATM. Other than that the dorms are pretty good and my roommate has been really helpful. Quote
dedsall78 Posted February 21, 2009 at 05:44 PM Report Posted February 21, 2009 at 05:44 PM Just to clarify on the dorms, you pay for 6 months but don't have to stay there the entire time. If you leave the dorms early, as I did, you can still get the rest of your money back. Quote
zerolife Posted February 28, 2009 at 07:49 PM Report Posted February 28, 2009 at 07:49 PM unless things have changed, you can get the one time use 10 kuai food card at the drinks window in zhijing cafeteria (the one closest to your dorm). It's the left most window. However, they charge a one dollar fee for the card so you actually only have a value of $9 in the card. Still cheaper than eating out. Otherwise, the basement of Tauliyuan cafeteria (to the right of the Chinese language building) is a good place with an excellent atmosphere. They accept cash and its damn cheap ... around 10 kuai for a full meal. Also you should go their just for the drinks ... large variety and much cheaper than Wudaokou. The place is just a bit harder to find. When you enter Tauliyuan, make a 180 turn to your left and you should see a tiny door leading to a stairway. Go down to the basement.... Quote
jonny.potter Posted March 1, 2009 at 02:41 AM Author Report Posted March 1, 2009 at 02:41 AM now all the canteen's, restaurants and buffets use a charge card which works in a similar way to the Beijing travelcard. Also be aware that many of the restaurants do not accept cash only the charge card so be sure to get one if you are likely to eat on campus a lot. Quote
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