BLCU Fall 2010

[Elwin]

Deleted (room is not available anymore).

[Stitch]

Hey everybody, I've just arrived in BLCU and finished settling into my dorm (Dorm . Thankfully, I now have internet access in my dorm as well. Like many of you, I will also be starting in the beginner's class in September in the one year program. I am happy to answer any questions anybody has regarding moving in, getting things set up, what you may need/want to bring, etc. but I'm certainly not an expert. I'll just try to help out from my personal experience. I just got a local sim card for my phone, so for anybody who wants to get in contact with an English speaker when you get into the University, you can call me: 155 010 99533. If you're not using a local number and calling through roaming access on your phone, you may have to use +86 10 155 010 99533, but I'm not so sure about that. Maybe try it without the 10 if that doesn't work.

First off, it's amazing how many languages you'll hear in the University, and it's really cool that regardless of our primary languages, we'll eventually all be communicating in Chinese.

Okay, what advice can I give to others that I would have liked to know..

1) There's an ICBC bank on campus where you can easily exchange currency WITH NO CONVERSION FEE, so don't change all of your money at the airport, where the rates are pretty unfavorable. I do recommend changing some money though if you don't have RMB, if you need to take a taxi and in case of emergencies.

2) There are stores right outside of the dorms with reasonable prices that sell water, snacks, toiletries, contact lens solution, backpacks, paper, pencils, etc, so you don't really need to bring your own. It's also really convenient that there's a laundromat and even a place to get a haircut in this little plaza next to the dorms. Note: I couldn't seem to find towels in the store, so maybe bring a couple from home.

3) You get a mini fridge in your room, but the thing is that the electricity is only active in the room when your room key is in a slot by the door, so I'm not sure if the fridge will be unpowered while you're out of the room.

4) To get internet access in your dorm room, there are two stores on campus that can get it set up for you. One seems like a telecom company branch and charges 140RMB/month for access. I found another that seems more like a little store that gave me access for 80RMB/month at DSL speeds. I'm pretty sure the 140/month company will give you a faster connection if you need it though.

5) This is just a general traveler's piece of advice, but I recommend bringing something from your home country to ward off homesickness. Mine is a baseball glove and a pretty worn in baseball. I have an extra glove as well if anybody wants to get a little taste of Americana and play some catch.

6) Stock up on whatever medicines you may need before you come. Back home in California, I had a pretty active group of friends, so we would always get into scrapes while bouldering, hiking, and whatever, so I have a ton of bandaids, antiseptic wipes, and painkillers. I also brought some antihistamines and anti-diarrhea medication and multi vitamins for colds. If you get sick or need some basic medical help, I'm happy to help. After what I'm sure will be a long flight, your immune system may have taken a bit of a beating, so contact me and I'll provide you with some multivitamins to help fight of those post-flight colds. I may change rooms, but I'll stay in Dormitory 8, so contact me just before you fly out for my current room number.

I'll add more if I think of anything else, but feel free to ask your own questions as well. See you guys as you arrive in the next week or so.

[VivianP]

Hi guys,

Wondering whether anybody here has any experience with booking a room at the Conference Centre Hotel?

I've managed to get a friend to book a room for me there and I've been told just to arrive there and tell them my name and they should have my room. However, I've also heard that a lot of the times, these reservations are not honoured - you get there and they don't have your booking or they gave it to somebody else or whatever reason it's just not there!

I have another opportunity right now to book an apartment somewhere else which is quite far from the university but it is a guaranteed spot.

I'm not sure what I should do. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks!

Viv

[Midimidi]

stitch ur awesome. im saving ur number and will call you soon as im starting to get rreeeeealll anxious about going to beijing. i cant seem to sort out my accommodation, i dont speak mandarin and could really do with a bit of guidance!

[Stitch]

Haha I was trying to say Dorm 8, but since it was in parentheses, it got turned into a smiley. Out of curiosity, why does everybody seem to want to stay in the Conference Center? Is the price better than the dorms? Also, where is it located?

Anyway Vivian, if you can't get your desired room, you may want to try to get a dorm room in one of the Overseas Students' Buildings, which are Buildings 4, 6, 7 and 8. If you have a government scholarship, you can apply for a room in Buildings 1 and 9. Buildings 1, 4, 6, and 9 are doubles, 6, 7, and 8 are singles. An apartment sounds better than a dorm, but if it's far, keep in mind that when the weather gets to freezing temperatures (between November and March), the commute will probably be more than unpleasant.

Midimidi, thanks haha. I hope you can be more excited than anxious. Beijing is really awesome, and I'm sure things will work out for you once you're on campus. Feel free to call for whatever though, I'm always happy to help if I can. What problems are you having with your accommodation? I also speak little to no Mandarin, but I'm getting more local friends every day, who have helped me to sort out any problems, and they can probably help you too.

To better help you and other students plan out their living arrangements, I'll try to post what I know about the on-campus housing and rates:

1) According to the brochure, all dorms have daily room service (which from what I can tell just seems to be that they'll empty out your trash bin, but I fold my own clothes, make my own bed, and in general, keep my room super clean).

2) Buildings 4, 6, 7, and 8 have private bathrooms, while 1 and 9 have public bathrooms.

3) The brochure also says that the rooms have internet, but what they mean is that the rooms are internet ready, you have to sign up for the service and have it set up yourself. I got a DSL modem on campus and an engineering student came to set it up.

4) The rooms have a TV, mini-fridge, telephone, closet, desk, chair, bed with bedsheets and one pillow, and the dorms have a floor-shared kitchen. Once I get a bike and can easily get groceries, I'll probably try cooking in the public kitchen for fun, but if you're not the cooking type, don't worry; food here is awesomely cheap.

5) Ordinary rooms, which are in Buildings 1 and 9, are 35-80RMB per person per day. Luxury rooms, which are in Buildings 4, 6, 7 and 8, are 90-160RMB per person per day. If you're wondering why there's a range in pricing, it's based on how long you book the room. I think to get the lowest price in the price range, you have to pay for 20 weeks up front. I'm not sure how this would actually work, but supposedly if you switch buildings, or find accommodation off campus sometime during the school year, you can get a refund for the remaining time you've paid for in advance.

6) A bit of warning about the rooms: There is hot water 24 hours a day, but it takes about 5+ minutes of running the water before it gets hot. This is likely due to usage of a single central water heater rather than one per floor, so it takes awhile for the hot water to reach your room from the pipes. It seems really wasteful, so as much as possible, I try to just buck it up and take the showers cold.

7) There are also mosquitoes. I can usually laugh off inconveniences and hindrances, but I really dislike mosquitoes. I ended up getting this anti-mosquito device that plugs into an electric socket, which helped. I still got a few bites though, so I went out to a Carrefour (for my fellow Americans, it's like a France's Wal-Mart, and the one in Beijing is huge, four floors of grocery store) and bought a Raid anti-mosquito spray. Haha just before posting this, I actually sprayed all around the cracks in my door and window, into the AC unit, and into the vent in the bathroom (yes, I saw one come out of there). I really doubt I'll need all of this huge can of Raid though, so if anybody wants to use it, let me know. On the plus side, I've been told that once the weather gets colder (around the end of October/early November) the mosquitoes will all disappear.

[Ku An]

thanks for the info stitch. i had a question about the dorm info in your post. you said that gov scholarship students have a choice between dorms 1 and 9. did you get to look at rooms in either dorm, and if so what were they like? whats the rate for rooms in dorm 8 if you stay for 20 weeks? how are the singles over there? im flying in on friday night so i hope to meet some of you soon. itll be nice to have a group of english speakers over there.

[ksl0588]

Hey, can I get a taxi from the airport to bring me to the conference center of BLCU and not just the south gate of BLCU? And if yes, how do I write that in Chinese so that I can just show it to the taxi driver because most taxi drivers cant speak or understand english, right? Thanks!

[Pascal Ma]

I just showed up on the BLCU housing center today and asked for a room. The lady put me in dorm 7 in a single room. It was either 7 or 6, 6 had doubles but she said doubles were all full. Double would have been 50¥ a day, single in dorm 7 is 90¥ a day, so about 2700 a mouth. I had to pay until january 21, so for the whole semester, in one payment. It amounted to roughly 13000¥, which I obviously didn't have on me, but they did take my credit card, charging a slight supplement (maybe 3%).

Room is small but acceptable. There doesn't seem to have air conditionning, I'll probably buy a fan... It has a private bathroom which is nice. I have a few days left at the hostel and then I'll move my stuff over! Yay!

[jmhcali]

Anybody know if the CC accepts credit cards? I suspect they do but can't tell from their website.

Edited to correct: They don't, for real. Also, the single room they showed me was miniscule, dingy, and dark, at noon. I got a room in Dorm 6 instead, which is bigger and nicer and cheaper. And the dorms accept credit cards with a minor surcharge which I think is 1000% worth it not to have to run around to the bank again and try to convince the bank to give me 17,000RMB all at once.

[Stitch]

Ku An, I haven't seen Dorms 1 and 9 personally, but the housing brochure states that Dorm 1 is slightly larger than Dorm 9 (15.8 square meters vs 12.5 square meters). Both are doubles, with two beds and two desks. For Dorm 8, the price for 20 weeks will be 90RMB per day, but as Pascal Ma said, you have to pay up front to get that price. My room seems fine, but that's all relative. I'm just happy to be here, so I can tolerate little things like mosquitoes and cold showers. I have a few more in depth details about my room in previous posts, but feel free to ask if you want to know anything specific.

ksl0588, the best thing I can think of for your situation is to print out the campus map: http://www.blcu.edu.cn/blcuweb/english/img/campus-map.jpg. I recommend printing multiple copies to keep in different bags just in case. I see taxis driving around through the campus, so the taxi driver should be able to take you directly to the Conference Center. Just show him the map and point to the Conference Center, which from the South Gate is just a straight shot down and on the left.

Pascal Ma, there should be an air conditioning unit in your room, as the charge is included in your housing fees. If you don't have one in your room, you should tell the people at the front desk. Also, if you find that you can't get hot water right away, don't worry, you just have to let it run for awhile before the hot water arrives through the pipes.

jmhcali, since the Conference Center is a hotel, they should accept credit cards. I will try to check for you tomorrow though to make sure.

[PhilipXC]

Flying from Sweden to Beijing tomorrow Planning to register on Friday or Saturday. Looking forward to explore campus. I'll be taking the full year Chinese language course.

[Jess]

Hey everyone,

I'm staying at the conference centre at the moment, there seems to be a few questions on here about it. You have to pay cash, they don't accept credit cards. Rates are 198RMB/night for a standard room. For 30 days or more it's 135RMB/night and for a semester or more it's 115/RMB a night (same as dorm 17). Breakfast is included in the price, served buffet style including hard boiled eggs, congee, baozi, pickled vegetables, cake, tea and coffee. The rooms get cleaned properly about once a week. Everyday the beds are made and the bins are emptied.

There is an extremely basic kitchen on the 8th floor, you'll need your own pots and pans if you need to use it. Theres a laundry on both the 4th and 7th floors, you'll need to buy a laundry card from reception to use the machines (50RMB including 10RMB deposit and 40RMB credit for the machines). It costs 4RMB per load for the washing machine and 8RMB per load for the laundry. There are restaurants in the building which I've been told are pretty good but apparently you should avoid the hairdressers at all costs.

As for the rooms themselves the floors are carpeted which is good for the winter and also it doesn't get as dusty. They have air conditioning/heating, a desk, a TV, a kettle, a mini fridge and a private bathroom. The bed is pretty hard but not quite so hard as in some of the dorms. The walls are also thicker than in the dorms so you won't be kept up all night if you need to study or get up early for class, and vice versa it doesn't matter if you want to play music or something.

You connect to the internet here the same way as for the rest of the dorms, however there is wireless internet in the cafe on the 2nd floor which anyone can use as long as they buy something from there.

I didn't actually book the room myself as I went through an agency, but as far as I can tell you can call them on the number linked on the blcu website or turn up in person, though usually some sort of deposit is involved if you want to guarantee your booking.

I hope this answers all questions regarding the CC, feel free to ask me anything you think I've missed out.

Jess

[jmhcali]

If you pay attention in the speaking and listening classes, you will pick up a lot just by walking around. Talking to people is the best practice. When I was here as a tourist a year ago, I was the only person in our tour group (beside the guide) who spoke Chinese, and I improved measureably in just the 12 days I was here.

[VivianP]

Hey thanks for the messages guys, really helpful

Jess - I'm supposed to be staying at the Conference Centre. I haven't actually told them my end date so hopefully they'll have my room for me all semester! Tried calling them but they don't speak English

Could you please tell me if I have to pay the whole semester worth of accommodation up front or is it month-by-month? I'm afraid of carrying so much cash with me on the plane.

Did anyone else or will anyone set up a bank account? Is it easy to set up an account when you arrive there? How do you get money into the bank account once you've opened it?

As for the taxi - I should be arriving pretty late at night, do you guys know if its safe to catch a taxi around midnight in Beijing from the international airport? A single girl who cannot speak Mandarin going to a foreign university who probably has some cash on hand........?

Thanks

Viv

[jmhcali]

Vivian, you will be safe at the airport, don't worry. Have the address written down and say hello in Chinese, then the driver will assume you know all about everything.

I would strongly suggest you not get a room in the Conference Center. Dorm rooms are nicer and cheaper.

[VivianP]

Thanks jmhcali. The dorm rooms sound good but to my understand they're all booked out. Have you heard of any vacancies at the dorms?

[Jess]

Hey Vivian,

To take advantage of the 115RMB/night price you'll need to pay for a whole semester upfront, you pay the 600RMB deposit and then you need to pay the full amount for the duration of your stay within 3 days. Otherwise on a month by month basis it would be at 135RMB/night.

You can open a bank account at the BLCU bank where you pay for your tuition fees, I haven't done it myself though so can't tell you about the process.

[VivianP]

Great thanks Jess, will have to open up an account at the bank then, hopefully it doesn't take too long for an international money transfer. Luckily they give us 3 days at least!

Cheers

Viv

[Yubarita]

Hey everyone!

I've just arrived to BLCU and I'm attending the 2-years-program. Right now I'm living in the International Students Hostel but I want to live out of the campus in an apartment because that would be easier to my family and friends to come and visit me . I need some advices for this matter.

I like mostly rock music (punk/rock, melodic hardcore, hard rock, indie...) so does anybody know if there are any place to hang out with that music or any upcoming concerts?

Thanks in advanced!

Mei.

[jmhcali]

I think we are mostly all here now. Anyone want to meet in real life? I'm going to be at the FriendlyHope Cafe near Dorm 2 (the one with the free wireless) around 7pm.