Meeting new people in my University Chinese Scholars Club

[Calday10]

Hi,

I am going to be having a meal with roughly 80 new chinese scholars at my university in the UK. (I am myself British) I joined the club as I wanted to learn more about Chinese culture and people. I'm guessing that within 80 people there are going to be different opinions on various subjects.

I would just like a bit of advice on topics of conversation I could use and also what to talk about and what not to. I am guessing politics would be one to avoid? ( I don't actually have a problem with China or their government) A question I have related to this is what the general opinion of their government will be now that they are in the UK? I know there will not be a single answer for every student but if somebody could just give me a general idea so I can avoid making a potential idiot out of myself that would be great ....

Additional info: The Chinese at my Uni I have been told are the richer ones.. not sure if this will make any difference to their viewpoints...

Thanks,

Chris

[Gymnosopher]

Hi Chris,

I actually wouldn't necessarily say avoid politics - you're just likely to meet people interested or not, to which they'll be happy to talk about it or not. Even if your opinions do differ you can simply have a disagreement and not an argument if you work it the right way!

Also, 'Chinese scholars' sounds a little vague (not that this is on your part but in general) so could include Hong Kong, Taiwan and those who have lived outside of Asia for large chunks of time (or even Western Academics focussing on China?). I just point this out as HK and TW themselves differ politically but the people don't 'not' get along though may avoid talking to heatedly about politics at dinner That said, if they are academics that are Chinese rather than scholars of China (getting a little convoluted) you're still going to have the same obvious topics alongside politics - culture, languages, differences between here and there etc.

When you say the Chinese are your Uni are the richer ones it makes me feel that they're actually undergrads/masters students? I suppose even to PHD now most Chinese that come to the UK to study are going to be from rich families that can afford to send them, though there may be a few whose families go through hardships to let them pursue their ambition to study in the UK (though this kind will invariably be in top 20 institutions). Either way, the Chinese at ANY Uni in the UK are the richer ones - for instance I did my undergrad in Durham and the Chinese there were wealthy, my girlfriend (Chinese) on the other hand doing her MA in Bath had loans from all sorts of family members to fund it and too was amongst rich classmates (one taking her 3rd MA now). My girlfriend did seem to feel this put a bit of a gap between her and the others in that they had very different life experiences, however as discussed on other threads on the forum the Chinese have their own traits/characteristics different from other nations which run through.

Now that they're in the UK their opinions will invariably change (anyone else feel free to jump in if you disagree). It's such a different society to China, with it's own benefits but own problems too, so they may think education is more rigorous and family stronger in China but the NHS a dream and other freedoms like in the press [did he just insult the government?] neat too. Last time I checked any Chinese citizen who had travelled/studied abroad was barred from certain political/civil offices in China for just this reason, and vice versa those in parts of the system are not allowed to leave the country.

Anyway I don't think you have much to worry about, aside from the chance that the 80 fall back on speaking Chinese and leave you in the dark! If you're looking for a conversation starter it's always easy to ask why someone wanted to study in the UK [insert good uni answer] then go on to talk about differences in education system/Chinese views of the UK/their experience after making the move etc.

Have fun!

[anonymoose]

A question I have related to this is what the general opinion of their government will be now that they are in the UK?

In my experience, most Chinese people (at least the younger ones) do not approve of the government, but are resigned to it, and are quite happy to criticise it. On the other hand, they can get defensive if a non-Chinese person criticises the government, so be tactful in whatever you say.

[Neil_H]

If you get stuck or things start to look like they are going badly you can always fall back on food. Find out what food they like over here and what they miss from back home.

[Calday10]

Thank you for your informative answer gymnosopher it was exactly what I was looking for... also thanks anonymoose and Neil_H

Chris

[taijidan]

Asking them why they wanted to study in the UK is a really good question.

I remember our teacher once brought us a newspaper article on the increasing number of chinese students travelling overseas to study and asked us to write a piece of homework about the article. I decided to survey my Chinese friends and colleagues response to this question. I talked to about 30 people and was surprised by the answers:

85% Wanted to study in the US, but due to visa difficulties after 9/11 came to the UK as a second choice.

10% Came chose the UK because of scholarship oppurtunity, or university exchange program.

5% Chose the UK as a first choice - reasons cited interest in British culture, history and environment - lack of pollution.

[abcdefg]

I would just like a bit of advice on topics of conversation I could use and also what to talk about and what not to.

Talk about anything you want to know. Be open and frank. If the topic is something the other person doesn't want to talk about, you will soon know. If you start mincing around, trying to avoid imaginary minefields, they will follow suit and it will become a silly, superficial evening talking about whether it might rain next weekend.

(I say that as an American; the British approach may be more refined.)

If this meeting were happening in Kunming, they would be asking you how much your shoes cost as a polite conversation starter and moving on from there.

[Tyler.zhang]

85% Wanted to study in the US, but due to visa difficulties after 9/11 came to the UK as a second choice.

10% Came chose the UK because of scholarship oppurtunity, or university exchange program.

5% Chose the UK as a first choice - reasons cited interest in British culture, history and environment - lack of pollution.

I know why there are just 5% who chose the UK as the first choice.Because studying in the UK will cost more money than in the US.

[yialanliu]

Actually, as a Chinese person, I wanted to add some tidbits.

1) The number of people who choose UK should be higher than 5%. The main reason is because getting a UK Masters degree is 1 year rather than 2 in the US or 3 in China (very important to girls). And time shorter is also better in general.

2) When talking to Chinese people I think most topics are okay IF you know what your talking about and don't just use propaganda as your sources. For instance, if you want to talk about Taiwan, know it from the Chinese point of view and not just know it but understand it PRIOR to talking with them and you should be fine.

Mundane topics like where your from is definitely okay and there's really nothing to be worried about there.

3) Most overseas Chinese are from a wealthier income group then the average due to cost. However, I think that is true of pretty much all international students (at least in the US).

[Gymnosopher]

I don't believe I ever met a Chinese student who had fallen back on the UK because of visa issues - indeed, getting a visa for the UK is no cakewalk.

The above 'statistics' seem to have been pulled out of thin air (in this case the space between one's ears).

Like stated above, studying in the UK doesn't equate to a higher cost than the states - especially when factoring in the length of degree programmes.