Tsinghua University Chinese Courses

[roddy]

Chris, moved one of your posts - only posts about accommodation in the accommodation topic, thanks.

[ChTTay]

1. What is grading like for people starting at different levels?

Are you referring to the placement test? If so, everyone does the same test. Students with different levels would just be expected to get 'x' amount of marks. They will have grade boundaries. If you don't know any Chinese you don't have to sit the test. You just fill in a form/questionnaire at the beginning then leave.

2. Do they do a verbal, written or listening test?

Placement test is listening and written. The written part includes giving you one character of a two character word (合 ___shi) as well as the pinyin. You have to write the missing character. Another part is similar but they don't give you the pinyin, you are free to choose any character that fits. For example 退__ you could write 退课，退步，退出... There may be another part but I don't remember. The listening part is made up of around 50 questions (Question and Answers in Chinese). The listening sound bites are of varying degrees of difficulty. I wouldn't bother revising/studying for this test.

3. Do you have flexibility with choosing your classes at all?

They take into account previous study, placement test and your own wishes/preferences.

In the first week of class you are assigned to a class level and room but are free to try any level if you think you want to change. First day of class was on Tuesday and you could change up to and including Friday.

If you decide you want to move levels, you need to attend another "test" (more like an interview) where you can explain why and they can evaluate you a bit more. You can move up or down levels only, you cannot move classes in the same level and you cannot move from afternoon class to morning classes.

At Elementary levels 1 and 2 the classes are listening, speaking and comprehension (综合). At pre-intermediate they throw in a "reading" class (to yourself) and I think at Intermediate 1 that becomes a speed reading class (out loud). I am not sure about higher levels nor am I 100% on intermediate 1/2.

[natcct]

Hey ChTTay,

Thanks for the great explanation! Would they charge anything for paying in credit card? Like any minimal surcharge?

Are you still over there at the institution?

As for Chris, I'm heading over from Malaysia. Chinese, but can't really speak/read/write it well enough as one.

What about you? Where are you going over from?

[ChTTay]

1. Would they charge anything for paying in credit card? Like any minimal surcharge?

I don't think the Chinese charge would be much to worry about and I'm not sure if there is one (sorry!). However, your domestic bank may charge you which you could look into now. I was already in China so had some money transferred into my account to pay tuition. Otherwise my bank was going to charge me 3% of the transaction then a flat fee on top (for using their card abroad).

2. Are you still over there at the institution?

Yes, final exams in over a week. I will be back next semester.

[roddy]

Sorry folks, but questions about dorm accommodation are getting deleted and need to go here. For smaller universities we might have one "everything goes here" topic, but a lot of people go to Tsinghua and we're trying to keep things organised. This is, incidentally, explained in the first post of this topic.

[ChTTay]

Sorry, auto pilot question answering.

[yellowpower]

Hi

was wondering is it possible for students (after taking the placement tests) to take or mix different level courses for reading, writing, speaking, etc as sometimes one can be better at one than another.

so is it possible to take a reading/writing course at intermediate level and take a speaking course at an advanced level?

And are the courses divided into deferring levels of 'competency' like beginners, beginners intermediate, beginners advanced, or are they just one level to the next?

And how's the choice selection for elective courses?

What about the approach in teaching/class interaction/discussions?

Happy New Year..thanx for sharing any insights

[ChTTay]

1. was wondering is it possible for students (after taking the placement tests) to take or mix different level courses for reading, writing, speaking, etc as sometimes one can be better at one than another. Is it possible to take a reading/writing course at intermediate level and take a speaking course at an advanced level?

I know of a few people who are Ethnically Chinese who have mixed levels. For example, they speak Cantonese at home or another dialect or have just never learned characters. I don't think they had any problem splitting up their classes but I don't know anyone who had learned Chinese from scratch and was just "good at speaking" who split their classes. I don't know everyone though!

If you did split / mix your levels it would mean you have classes in the morning and afternoon. So you might have to come in at 8am for one class then come back again at 1pm for another. Goodbye lazy mornings and post-lunch nap!

2. Are the courses divided into deferring levels of 'competency' like beginners, beginners intermediate, beginners advanced, or are they just one level to the next?

The levels are; Elementary 1 and 2, pre-intermediate, intermediate 1 and 2, advanced 1 and 2. Generally, if you are placed at Elementary 2 then your classes are all Elementary 2.

3. And how's the choice selection for elective courses?

There were some elective courses available for a number of weeks (4 to 6?). It listed more "academic" subjects that included things like HSK, Chinese Characters, Extra Pronunciation, Business Chinese. Also had more "fun" classes like 'Tai Chi Sword' , Nunchucks, Chinese Folk Songs... etc

A friend of mine enjoyed Tai Chi Sword but a lot of the more academic classes were cancelled as no one signed up for them. For HSK classes, there are many, many schools in Wudaokou who offer intensive courses. It seems like most people usually sign up for these.

4. What about the approach in teaching/class interaction/discussions?

Will come back to this one in more detail.

[yellowpower]

@ChTTay

thanx for sharing info about the chinese courses..the flexibility of being able to mix & match different course levels is good to know. Some students prefer to focus more on oral fluency whereas others are interested in reading/writing, so in a way students of different backgrounds/needs have this option during their course selection, sort of.

choice of electives sounds interesting, anything related to popular culture (movies, music, books, etc)?

how's the homework/exam frequency and tests/measures of progress throughout the semester?

Any possibility of having one to one classes, or a small group class of not more than 5 - 6 students?

Are you able to use some of what you've learned in real life situations?

thanx again

[ChTTay]

1. how's the homework/exam frequency and tests/measures of progress throughout the semester?

Home depends on the teacher. One of my classes gives us homework of some sort every lesson, for the next lesson. The other two vary a lot but it probably works out as them giving us homework "2/3rds" (two thirds) of the time. In my comprehensive Chinese class we also often have a dictation test of the words we learnt in the previous lesson.

There is a mid-term and a final exam that count toward your grade. You also have two practice / mock tests so you can check your progress and can make sure you are reviewing the right stuff. The first one is half way between when you start the course and the mid-term, the second is half way between the mid-term and the final. You have a mock exam for each class.

2. Any possibility of having one to one classes, or a small group class of not more than 5 - 6 students?

Lots of possibility of one on one classes ... but this is something you would have to organize outside of Tsinghua. There are many, many, many Chinese people offering one on one tuition around Wudaokou. There are also private schools offering extra classes. The size of your class at Tsinghua just depends on how many people sign up to your level and luck. I had 12 in my class.

3. Are you able to use some of what you've learned in real life situations?

The short answer is "Yes and no".

My vocabulary has improved quite a lot so I find it easier to read information (restaurants, train stations etc) and also to comprehend more of what people are saying.

"Some students prefer to focus more on oral fluency"

University's probably aren't the best place to go if this is your focus. Have a search around these forums for discussions on that (I remember reading a few).

My speaking ability hasn't improved that much. I know a lot more words but I don't necessarily know how to use them myself. I think almost all students who study in a University setting encounter this kind of problem with speaking. You just don't get the one-on-one time in class to really push on with speaking skills. It's really up to you to find a language partner, chinese friends or get yourself a tutor to improve your speaking skills further. For various reasons, I haven't done this as much as I should have this semester.

The answer to this question would probably also change depending on the level of the student. If I had no Chinese language skills before I went to Tsinghua I might find that I can use ALL of the Chinese I've learned in my Elementary 1 class in real life situations.

[chrisoyoung]

Hi there, is anyone looking to arrive in Beijing before registration starts?

I am getting in before Chinese New Year on 1 Feb, let me know if anyone is interested in meeting up for coffee or drink the week before class starts.

Chris

[natcct]

Hello.

I was just wondering if you'd all be interested for a chat or a gathering of any kind for Tsing Hua 2013 Feb - head over to this group I made.

It's a public chat website : http://tsinghua2013.chatango.com/

But as for information taht could help the others - continue posting them up here?

[Zac]

Hi everyone, I have some questions about scholarships to Tsinghua. I majored in Chinese in college, have continued studying the language while teaching English in China for the last year and a half, and intend to apply for Tsinghua's language program for the upcoming fall and spring semesters. I didn't see anything on this site except for the CSC scholarship thread (which I posted in), so hopefully this is the right place.

The Tsinghua site specifies four scholarships: the ones offered by the Chinese government (CSC), Beijing government, Confucius Institute, and Tsinghua itself.

First question: the links provided for the Tsinghua and Beijing scholarship applications are identical - both of them give me a PDF of the Tsinghua scholarship application. Is this Tsinghua's fault, or is my application somehow considered for both?

I also have a general question about these scholarships. As I'm still paying off my student loans from college, a full scholarship would be an immense help right now. Which scholarship would I have the best chance of receiving? I read on the CSC scholarship forum that there aren't too many of those offered to Tsinghua students, for instance. I'd just like to know which scholarship I should focus most on.

And finally, just a question about the advanced classes. Would they be suitable for someone who's studied the language for five and a half years? My Chinese has improved immensely since coming here in 2011, but I know there's still a lot of room for improvement. A few people have suggested that at this point I'd be beyond university classes, but I still think that the kind of academic environment I can find at Tsinghua would be much more conducive to studying than where I am now (teaching English at a university and studying in my spare time). I looked at IUP, but the tuition is a problem.

[hyanglee]

Hey natcct, are you from Malaysia?

[natcct]

Hello Hyang,

Where are you from? Yes I am from Malaysia

[ChTTay]

A Beginners Guide to the Tsinghua University Chinese Language Program

Online Application

The Tsinghua website requires applicants to create a user name and password before you can begin the application process. One advantage of this is that you don't have to finish your application in one sitting and can save a draft. If you make a mistake on your application, Tsinghua will email you asking for a correction. If you already live in China you need to write down your “home country” address on the application and not your Chinese address. Make a note of your user name and password as you can use these to log back into the Tsinghua system to check on your application status.

After your initial online application has been sent to Tsinghua they will send you an email asking for various documents to support your application to the Language Program. These can be sent by post or email. I opted to send my documents by post as I was already in China and the .pdf copies of the documents were huge. Once the documents have been received, the next step is to pay an application fee of 400RMB. Payment was by a third party website.

I had to send the following documents to Tsinghua:

• 
  A verified application form, printed from the online system, signed with a passport photo
  
• 
  Academic diploma and academic record
  
• 
  A photocopy of your passport page. If you currently live in China you also need to include a copy of your residence permit.
  

I didn't have an academic record and the Tsinghua office said that wasn't a problem as I had already graduated.

It seems to be worthwhile to check the online system regularly. I was beginning to get frustrated at the lack of communication and hadn't been able to reach Tsinghua via phone. I decided to check the online system to see if anything had changed; on the first page after logging in it told me I had been accepted. Around two days later I received an email saying as much along with further information about the academic schedule. Three weeks later I received my application pack, including my acceptance letter, admission notice, visa form, physical examination form, registration guide, dormitory registration information, campus map and calender for the start of the semester.

The application window is open for a few months, I applied around 4 to 6 weeks before the deadline and had no problems.

Phone and Email

Overall, I found the language program staff provided helpful, useful information but I found getting through to them could be a challenge sometimes. I think I called for 3 days at different times before anyone answered. As for emails, the response time to specific questions/issues was usually around 5 days I think. Two of my emails were never responded too. All of my emails were sent in English.

Registration Day

Registration is held in the same building as the Foreign Students office and Visa office. Upon arrival, I was given a leaflet with the “registration procedure” for that day which outlined all of the steps needed to complete registration and the documents you would need. Try to arrive early as I get there 30 minutes after the official start time and there was already a sizeable queue.

Registration probably took 2 or 3 hours and most of that time was spent standing in line, waiting to get to the next desk. Registration took place in a long, narrow room with numerous desks lined up on the left hand side of the room. Each desk was numbered and represented a different stage of the registration process (e.g. submitting pictures and was listed on the registration guide. The registration process was slow and a little bit frustrating. It was hard to judge how long you would be stood there and if one person had a problem at the desk it could delay you even further. On some desks there was just one person, on others there were two or three.

There are some seats available at the beginning of the registration but, if you don't think you can stand for 2 hours or more, it would be worth bringing a folding chair with you. It is also worth bringing a pen with you.

In terms of documents, everything is fairly self explanatory but I’ve made a few notes below;

Passport photos: These must be be 2 inch size. You can still go through the application process without them but would have to go to the International Office at some point so they can complete your records. They also need the pictures for your student card. There were some students with massive photos printed off their computers or just normal photos with their friends. My photos were too small.

Arriving Late: If you arrive late (in the middle of the allotted time or later) there didn't seem much point in bothering. At the end of the morning session they close up for lunch and you have to come back for the afternoon. I saw some people arrive 30 minutes to an hour before closing and they had no chance of completing the process in that time.

Chinese name: You need to register with a Chinese name so it's best to have one before you otherwise they will likely just “Chineseify” you English name. I think a lot of people end up with this kind of name as our teachers always liked it when they called out a “real name”. This is your name at the University so i'd want to be happy with it.

Medical Assessment: All medicals completed outside of Beijing have to be taken to the International Clinic in Haidian to be verified/authorized. If there is something missing in your medical assessment then you can have it done at the centre. At the time of registration I was told I did not need to have my medical certificate authorized as the assessment was done from within a different city in China. However, when I eventually went to the VISA office they told me they needed it authorized in Beijing.

At the end of registration process I was given a “goodie bag” which included a pretty good map of Beijing, rules and regulations, a basic guide and some other bits and pieces. You also have the chance to register for the Tsinghua Buddy Program and to join a different queue for VISAS.

Payment

After you have registered the accounts/payment office is just down the hall. You can pay your tuition fee using cash or credit/debit card. The office accept Chinese and Foreign cards. Generally, the cash queue was quicker but that means you have to carry a bag of cash around with you.

Placement

The placement test was scheduled a few days after registration. At 8:30 students could look at the text books that would be used in each level for 15 minutes. At 8:45 we had to go to our assigned classroom and fill in an a sheet with personal information and details of our Chinese learning experience. The listening test came first and was around 58 questions long. You listen to each recording once then select a multiple choice answer. The exam was all in characters. The second part of the exam assessed knowledge of characters and asked you to write the pinyin for characters, write a monosyllable word using the character given, write the missing character using a “pinyin clue” (合__ shi). If you had never studied Chinese before you could attend, fill in your form then leave at 9:00am.

In placing you into a class they take into account previous study, placement test and your own wishes/preferences. The level that you are placed in will apply for all of your classes. For example, If you are put into “Elementary 2” then all your classes will be at this level.

The first week: Moving Classes

There are classes in the morning from 8am to 11:40am or the afternoon classes which start at 1pm. You don't really have a choice in which one you are in and they don't ask for a preference.

The first week of classes started on a Tuesday and you had to attend your designated class that day, you could not switch. I think almost all classes, regardless of the level, focused on breaking the ice and introductions. The following 3 days you were free to try any class and level you like. It seems to me that the best thing you can do is to attend the actual class (time and room – not just the level) you think you want to move to as soon as possible. If you want to move up a level, go to that class on Wednesday and Thursday then decide. If you still aren't sure you can go to the class you were placed in again on Friday before you decide to change. I guess there is a possibility of the class you want to move to being full though if you decide to wait.

During this time, it is possible to go to morning and afternoon classes as no one checks who you are or which session you are registered in. However, It would be wise to go the class you want to move to. I would say one of the most important things is to try and judge the level of the people already in that class. Ask them if they are actually assigned to this class as they might just be visiting too. If you think the students level is above yours, try a different class in the same level. If you find the same thing, perhaps you should stay where you are. I think most people find the first week a bit of a whirlwind if it's your first semester. You don't really know what's going on and are just having Chinese thrown at you from all angles. If the level you are in really is too easy, you should change. Just make sure you look ahead in the text book to see if it gets harder later on.

Tsinghua allowed students to change classes in two sessions every day during this first week so there was plenty of time to get a change confirmed. It was not possible for an afternoon class student to switch to a morning class unless they found someone who wanted to change. I think you could probably move from morning to afternoon if you needed to. I know some people who wanted to have split classes as they felt their speaking ability was more advanced than their reading or writing. It seemed to me that a lot of the people who ended up with split classes were ethnically Chinese. The big downside to having split classes is that you can end up having one class at 8am and your other class at 1pm.

Before you can move classes you need to attend another “exam” but it's more of an interview. If you are at a low level, you can speak in as much Chinese as you know then just switch to English. At my level, I was just asked to read part of the text book from the class I wanted to move to. The teacher who I spoke too also looked at my placement test score. I think that, overall, Tsinghua is very good at taking into account a students preferences as well as their placement tests.

The Language Program

Class overview

At Elementary 2 level you have Comprehension, Listening and Speaking classes. I believe the level below (Elementary 1) has one less listening class and the level above (Pre-Intermediate) also has Reading classes. Like all schools and all classes everywhere, a lot depends on your teacher and your level. For the first few weeks there was much talk going around about “someone” who tried two classes at the same level (with the same textbook etc) and “x” was easier than “y” or that they tried the level above and found it easier. I'd just try to judge everything for yourself.

My class had 12 students in it and it seemed like this was one of the smaller classes. The elementary 1 classes seemed to have the most students but the class numbers didn't decrease massively as the levels got more advanced. In my class I was the only native English speaker and, out of 12, there were 6 Europeans. The other students were Vietnamese, Filipino and Indonesian.

Elementary 1

I attended two days of Elementary One classes and thought the teaching was really excellent. The comprehension teacher had taught Chinese in the UK for 3 or 4 years and had different games and activities in each lesson. She also spent a bit of time going into the history of some of the radical characters that were being introduced. Everything was very clear and very well structured. The speaking class at that level involved a fair amount of pinyin drilling but also group and pair work. I think that Tsinghua would be a pretty good choice if you were a complete beginner, it seemed like you would have a pretty solid foundation after a semester in those classes.

I moved up a class to Elementary 2.

Elementary 2

In my classes the level of interaction varied day by day, chapter by chapter, but I did think that each of my teachers at least tried to interact and involve each student in the lesson. At this level, all of the textbooks were Tsinghua's own books. As a result, some of the vocabulary and grammar points from the lessons overlapped.

Speaking

Even though we did not once do any kind of group or pair work, our teacher would often lead/chair a discussion on a variety of topics and make sure everyone had a say. If someone said something either so bad that no one could understand or too good for some students level, he would explain it again to help us understand. If the discussion was drying out a bit he would ask questions round the class to get people to express themselves.

My speaking class generally consisted of going through the new words given in the text books and elaborating on certain, key words. The teacher would give many examples of when/how to use it and may also move onto similar words. Generally, our speaking teacher would try to move away from less interesting textbook topics as quickly as possible once they had covered the key points. Overall, we were given a lot of useful colloquial words, phrases and had interesting discussions. The negatives of this class were lack of pair or group work and I would have liked to see more presentations (we had to do two in one semester with no real guidelines on it). In addition, I felt that sometimes parts of the lesson were too far above our level. When this happened people would just switch off and put on an poker face of understanding.

Textbook

Elementary 2 Speaking used Tsinghua's own textbook produced for the class.

Negatives: The dialogues were too long and complex, some of the vocabulary and topics were slightly obscure for our level, some of the exercises essentially just wanted you to read out loud and required no thought or creativity on your part.

Positives: The text book key grammar and words were very useful and it also included some very colloquial phrases that I can use every day (e.g. 你忙什么呢？).

Chinese Comprehension

In Chinese Comprehension class everything was always very well structured with power point presentations for each class. This focuses on reading texts, looking at grammar or language points and writing. Each class essentially followed the same pattern. At first we would review the previous lesson and read out homework. The teacher would introduce the new lesson vocabulary (repetition/drilling), following by a more detailed look at certain key words including example sentences, practice dialogues and more creative exercises (make your own sentence, gapfills etc). Usually we would read through the text until the main grammar point of the lesson has been reached then stop and go through it in detail. This involved examples, practice dialogues, filling in the gap, changing sentences to use the new structure etc. The teacher would pick one student to read a paragraph out loud to the class, then pick another student to read the paragraph again but with gaps where the key vocab was. The student would have to try and remember the vocab without looking at their textbook.

I liked the structure of this class and probably learned the most here compared to the other two classes I had. Most of the key grammar structures have turned out to be pretty useful.

Textbook

The 综合2 book at Tsinghua is at the same level as “Boya Chinese II” and covers a lot of the same vocabulary/grammar. I bought the Boya book towards the end of the semester to help my revision, however, I wish I had bought it right at the start of the semester to use in conjunction with the Tsinghua textbook. The Boya book has more relevant material, better explanations of language points (not just the key grammar) and more creative exercises. The Tsinghua book generally uses longer texts whereas Boya uses a mix of dialogues and texts. I did like the grammar exercises in the Tsinghua book and I think my reading has improved a lot this semester. Overall though, I found the Boya book to be easier to use and more interesting.

Listening

My listening class was pretty straight forward. The teacher would go through the new vocabulary from the lesson then we would do the listening exercises. The teacher would usually read out the dialogue first then play the recording. If the dialogue or sound clip was difficult they would help explain it on the board. The exercises varied but included multiple choice, filling the gap and writing full answers to questions about the recording.

The recording speed was a bit too fast for my level and the class was worthless unless I previewed the recording in my own time. I would usually make sure I was one exercise ahead of the class and just check my answers during the lesson. In the dead time I'd just look at vocabulary. If there was something I didn't understand it was usually explained in the class. I wasn't alone in thinking the speed was too fast and the class was probably split down the middle – half found it difficult and the other half found it manageable.

Textbook

The vocabulary in the book seemed pretty useful but we didn't really have to use it ourselves, just know it well enough to hear it when listening to the recordings. I found the longer dialogues to be pretty interesting overall.

In class advice

One of the most useful things in class is having a smart phone with Pleco (or any dictionary) or just a Chinese electronic dictionary. There was only one person without one in our class and they always seemed a bit more lost than everyone else. I tried not to rely too much on the dictionary but sometimes its the only way to know what's going on. With Pleco for Android you can write the character or search by pinyin. At first I used to note everything but then I found it's better just to listen fully and note one or two things.

Homework

Homework was usually either writing an answer to a question, writing about a topic, previewing vocabulary, learning to write characters or preparing something for class.

Exams

The mid-term exam is worth 35% of the overall mark. The final exam is worth 45% of the overall mark. The other twenty percent comes from in class participation and homework (10%) as well as attendance (10%). Our mid-term exams each assessed a different number of chapters depending on the class. The mid-term and final were both pretty similar but the final exam was a bit longer.

In Elementary 2, the Comprehensive Chinese exam had different sections including character recognition, writing characters based on pinyin, writing an essay, reading texts and answering questions. My speaking test had three parts. The first was reading out loud, the second involved using different language points in a semi-scripted conversation. The teacher would have a scripted part and you would respond using a given phrase, vocabulary or grammar structure. The third gave us an open topic to talk about with the teacher (e.g. Life in Beijing). The listening exam tested us using multiple choice, gap fills and having to answer questions based on the recording. Listening involved various types of exercises, mostly lifted directly from the textbook. The recording is played once through fully with some time given to write answers where needed. The recording is played a second time. You then have time to complete your answers before handing in the test.

Learning outside of main classes

There are elective classes offered at some point during the term. These include more academic ones, such as, HSK, pronunciation, grammar and more “fun” courses like Tai Chi sword, nun-chucks and calligraphy. I think that the more academic courses ended up being cancelled from lack of people signing up.

There are many, many Chinese people offering their services as tutors around Wudaokou. It seems these vary hugely in quality. If you try to find a tutor yourself, It might be an idea to try a few different people before making a decision. The Beijinger has many adverts for tutors and there are companies that offer them in Wudaokou. I think many of them are found by word of mouth though. You can get a tutor from as little as 50RMB an hour but they may just be an English student or a Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language student.

I know of a few people who also went to private language schools in addition to Tsinghua classes. Again, there are various schools around Wudaokou who offer all kinds of classes (HSK intensive, Speaking, Grammar etc). Global English is one that a few different people have recommended to me. It is in the office/apartment building to the right of McDonalds (if you are facing McDonalds head on).

If you have a smart phone then you should download the 'WeChat' app. It's a commonly used chat application that many, many Chinese people use and probably all Chinese students. You can text, record voice messages and they just added a “real time” chat feature. The best feature of Wechat is the “look around” option. This allows you to chat to random people who are near your location. You will find that people will just add you, say a few words then nothing else. Occasionally you get worthwhile people who really want to talk. Wechat is good because you can practice Chinese without any pressure of a real time conversation. You have time to consider what people are saying and think of a response. You can do this written or spoken. Also, it's a good way to expose yourself to the language Chinese people actually “chat”. If you live in dorms at Tsinghua, Wechat a good way to make Chinese friends. I have found that Chinese students don't often approach you randomly to practice their English. With WeChat, there isn't any pressure for them either.

There are also various language corners at Tsinghua that will help you make Chinese friends. The Chinese corner actually has a lot of foreigners so it's best to go to your native language corner (Spanish, Arabic, German) or just the English corner.

On Campus

Getting to Tsinghua and Around

Most Foreign Student activities (classes, language corners, offices) are located at the far north of Tsinghua near the International Dormitories and the East Gate of Tsinghua. If you live in a dormitory then everything is really convenient. It is probably a 5 to 10 minute walk or a 2 minute bike ride. Most students still opt to buy a bike if they live in dorms. Tsinghua is a big campus and foreign students are located quite a long way from Wudaokou. By bike it can take 10 to 20 minutes depending on where you are going. If you wanted to walk from the dorms, it can take around 45 minutes just to get to the South East gate of Tsinghua. From there it's around 15 minutes to the subway station.

If you live in Wudaokou it will take you 10 to 20 minutes to get to class if you live in central area near the subway. There is also a bus (#731) that goes to the East Gate of Tsinghua and walk to class from there. The bus stop is roughly near to McDonalds but closer to the subway station. Riding a bike to school is a lot more convenient and direct overall. Some students opt to buy an electric scooter rather than cycle. If you are studying in winter it can get pretty cold riding to class in the early morning but that doesn't stop the Chinese students – just wrap up warm!

There are quite a few taxi's coming in and out of Tsinghua and you can also go to one of the gates to wait for one to pass. There is a Tsinghua free shuttle bus that can take you around campus but I never see it.

There are various bike shops within Tsinghua campus where you can buy new and used bike cheaply. You can usually sell these to other students or back to the bike shop when you leave. You should bargain over the price. Note that the cheap new bikes the shops sell are often poor quality but they should last a semester or two. These bikes tend to rust instantly and parts fall off or break quite easily. The bike shops will make small repairs for free or a small charge. You can pump up tires at each bike shop for free. If you want a more professional bike then i'd go to a real bike shop. Be warned though that bike theft in Beijing is common so if you have a shiny new professional looking bike it's best to take it your room rather than leave it over night. If you are going to leave it somewhere it's a good idea to chain it too something also.

Classrooms

All of the language course classes are held in “C building” (or C楼). That isn't the official name but everyone uses it as the building is shaped like a C. The classrooms vary in size, all have blackboards and projectors. My classroom was small and well heated. The air conditioner also worked very well. I found the desks to be a bit uncomfortable because they had metal bars at the front of them. I guess these are to stop students slouching (and they work!) but I'm quite tall and like to stretch my legs.

C building is similar to a students union in that it provided various services to students on the ground floor. This includes a supermarket, hairdressers, Bank of China, print services, photo printing, a post office and other administrative type offices.

Eating and drinking

Paradiso cafe is a pretty good place if you're tired of being in your room or the library to study or just want a place to hang out. A cup of coffee is about the same price you'd pay at home. However, they do give a 30% discount if you use a prepaid card rather than cash. The cafe has wifi and a steady supply of people “studying”. I think many people decide to meet their tutors here.

There is also a small cafe open for foreign students during class on our floor of C building. It is not cheap but it's not outrageous either. A cup of Twinnings tea is 5 to 7RMB (can ask them to give you more hot water once you've finished), a coffee can range from 12 to 25RMB. A bottle of water is 2RMB. They also have a small selection of snacks, almost all of which can be bought downstairs at the supermarket for slightly less.

All the canteens use a prepaid card system so you need to “top up” your card as you spend. For Chinese Language students and other visitors the government subsidy given to Chinese students (20%) is deducted each time you charge your card. If you charge 100RMB then you end up with 80RMB to spend. Many foreign students use the two canteens nearest to C building. These are both huge and offer a vast array of different dishes and types of food. You should be able to find most types of Chinese food in these two canteens. Each floor has many individual little windows where you can order what you want. If you don't speak Chinese you can just point at what someone else has ordered or at some dishes they have on display. There are also many booths that have pre-made dishes in big trays where you can just point at what you want. There is one floor that requires no interaction whatsoever as you simply pick the plate of food you want (buffet style). Overall there are some pretty nice things in there and a lot of pretty bad ones so It's best just to have a look around and try new things.

In addition to the two big canteens near C building there are many smaller ones dotted around. They include a canteen solely serving noodles and a Muslim one. Generally, the quality and variety of food at Tsinghua is excellent. In the end though, it all just starts to taste like canteen food. It's best to mix it up a bit, dumplings and noodles one day, buffet dishes the next day, then something cooked to order. Apart from canteens, Tsinghua also has various restaurants that seem to be pretty popular with the general public too. I have only been to one of these but I do go fairly often. They serve a pretty good variety of dishes, mostly common ones you find in many restaurants in China. They also have individual hotpot available. The quality of the food is far better at the restaurant but you get what you pay for. Generally I won't spend more than 10RMB at the canteen for lunch (two different dishes, rice and soup) but one dish at the restaurant would set me back 16RMB minimum. Generally the canteens open 11-1 for lunch and 5-7 for dinner and is very cheap. At the smaller ones they will stop making new dishes at some point so if you turn up late they might not have anything left.

Finally, there is a pizza place that I've never been too and a kind of “fake McDonalds” on campus. I think you can guess what the McDonald's type place sells. Their prices are lower than the real McDonalds but the quality isn't great. It's okay if you fancy a burger but don' want to go to Wudaokou or you're too late to go to the canteens.

Sport

There are many basketball courts, football pitches (grass and artificial), tennis courts and a few baseball fields on Tsinghua campus. Most Chinese students play in the afternoon and around 3 or 4pm they are all pretty busy. If you are alone it's pretty easy to join in with a group of Chinese or foreign students playing football. Last semester someone took it upon themselves to organize football training/games for anyone in the morning class. This was usually after lunch. The afternoon class arranged a time as well. We ended up playing each other a couple of times but beyond that we would just play amongst ourselves. Whenever we played other students on their own would often ask to join us. It's always pretty easy to get a game going no matter how many people you have. If someone was willing to organize it, I'm sure Chinese teams would be willing to have a friendly game. There is also a student league but I never found out how to join it.

I think there is a gym and swimming pool on campus but I've never been to it and I don't know anyone who goes. There are also various outdoor gyms around campus where you can do bodyweight exercises and weight machines.

Dormitories

I don't live in dormitories so I can't really give too much information about them. I have seen a single room with en-suite though and would have no problem living there for a semester or two. They have a desk, shelves, sink, wardrobe, shower and toilet toilet. The rooms are cleaned regularly by cleaning staff and are in pretty good condition. Each building has a study room. The main disadvantage as far as I can see is that you don't have a real kitchen and will most likely be eating canteen food most of the time.

Off Campus in Wudaokou

There's plenty of information on Wudaokou on the internet so I've just made a few brief notes.

Eating and Drinking

Wudaokou has a wide variety of different Chinese foods and a few different western fast food options. Wudaokou isn't so big and it's easy to explore places on your own. Most places have picture menus. At first, the mall near the subway station (Hualian / U-Centre) has good options with a food court downstairs in the basement (and a supermarket stocking Western goods) and a variety of different restaurants upstairs. For me, the best “Italian-style” Pizza can be found at Red House bar where they have a wood fire oven. There are also various cafés around Wudaokou with “The Bridge” being very popular option with students.

Gyms

The are a few gyms around Wudaokou but probably the most well advertised is Nirvana Fitness which is in the same building as Lotus Supermarket (opposite McDonalds). There is a fairly basic in the Hua Qing Jia Yuan 华请嘉园 apartment complex that also has a swimming pool. I believe there is another gym near the business park outside of Tsinghua's South East gate.

Banking

Outside of Tsinghua's South East gate is a large Bank of China branch. If you go at peak times there should be someone who speaks limited English. If you want to open an account, it might be best to take a Chinese (or Chinese speaking) friend with you. There is a Bank of Beijing near the South East gate also (when you exit, take a left towards KFC). You can top up your apartment gas and electric cards there.

How to find the Beijing International Travel Healthcare Center Haidian Clinic

To apply for your residence permit in Beijing you will need to have either a Health check in Beijing or have your existing health check verified at the clinic in Haidian. This is only for those on an X visa and is not needed if you are here on an F visa.

Tsinghua give you a information sheet but it doesn't really help you find the place unless you can read the Chinese directions. When I went to the International Office to ask how to get there they just told me to take a taxi. If you are going alone or just don't fancy paying for a taxi you can go via subway and a short bus ride.

Take subway line 13 to Xi Er Qi 西二旗. Exit the station via A1 and walk straight. You will pass a Bank of China on your right and a large Baidu office on the left. Keep walking straight until the end of the road, turn left and the bus stop is 1 minute from the corner. You can take bus 365 or 333. Bus number 365 should be around 2 stops and bus number 333 should be around 3 stops (not 100% sure on this!). I took 365. To double check the number of stops have a look for 西北旺镇 or 德政 (or both) on the given list of stops. The bus stops on the other side of the road from clinic. When you get off, just walk the same direction as the bus for a minute or two and the clinic is on your left.

On the way back you can take 365 again to the subway station (just remember to take it in the opposite direction from your arrival!). Look out for the bus taking a right onto a dual carriage way (the same road where you got on the bus) and get off here. You can also see the Baidu sign on the left. Once you get off the bus cross over the road and walk back to the station down the road “shangdi shi jie”. The Bank of China is on your left as well as a McDonalds. Alternatively, you could wait for a taxi to drop someone off and take that back to Wudaokou or to the subway.

I applied to the program in 2012 and attended winter semester 2012/13.

Not really sure if it's more of a review or a guide or both. Anyway, There was a total lack of any good information when I was applying and it can be frustrating. I hope the information in this post helps others!!

Thanks

[yellowpower]

Hi

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2013 to everyone!

Wow! :D thanks for the great write up and sharing..it'll definitely be a great help to those who are considering Tsinghua's program.

Any chance of auditing or sitting in on university lectures in chinese (e.g. chinese history, literature, etc)?

Any good bookstores to recommend on campus or off?

Any tips/suggestions about getting your handphone going (SIM cards, etc)?

Thanks

[ChTTay]

> Any chance of auditing or sitting in on university lectures in chinese (e.g. chinese history, literature, etc)?

Not officially. You could probably just turn up to one but, unless you look Chinese, it's probably pretty obvious you don't belong there!

> Any good bookstores to recommend on campus or off?

BLCU bookstore has a better collection of Chinese learning material than Tsinghua (found in basement of C building). If you mean just Novels and stuff i dont think there is a bookstore in Wudaokou but there are some guys selling copies of popular foreign books on the streets from little carts.

> Any tips/suggestions about getting your handphone going (SIM cards, etc)?

You can get basic sim cards everywhere. Most magazine/news agent places have them, including on campus. There are many phone shops in Wudaokou where you could find a sim with different add ons and tariff options.

[gato]

There is a great academic bookstore called 万圣书苑 on 城府路 on the south side of Tsinghua. They have a wide selection of literature and history books.

[ChTTay]

Thats great! I'll try check it out. I've been wanting to find some more reading in Chinese.

Do you know, Is it near the ICBC bank?