Anyone studied at Central University for Nationalities?

[jess.ylz]

Hi! I'll be studying at Minda in the spring too! Glad to know there are some others entering in the spring. Were you able to find accommodation in the dormitories or did they tell you that the rooms were all booked?

[Mazuahaa]

How Funny, I've emailed the CIE about that awhile back and have been waiting for a reply for sometime now.... what did you hear? now that you've said that...it scares me since I''ve heard nothing.Lets Keep are fingers crossed.

[jess.ylz]

back in september when i inquired and in october when i handed in my application they were not particularly encouraging. scholarship and direct exchange students get priority for dormitories, and i'm not entirely sure the office handles dorm reservations. your post reminded me and i emailed to ask yesterday but haven't received a response either. i'm also waiting to hear when exactly classes begin and when i have to be in beijing to take the placement test, etc.

have you gotten your confirmation letter yet? mine came with instructions to call the west gate international house directly. do you need the number? (i don't know if they speak english or if you need them to.)

i've begun to look for an apartment... not that there are any in the expat listings for the area. i'm probably going to live in wudaokou with the rest of beijing's foreign students and commute to school (there's a bus stop right in front of the minzu daxue's east gate). the dorms seem rather expensive compared to low-mid-range rents in other parts of the city (also, i've been living in harbin the last few months where cost of living is lower, so i haven't adjusted to the price adjustments yet).

[Mazuahaa]

I got my confirmation letter a few days ago and it told me to show up at the West Gate International house but i didn't have any contact info. In the notice to new students that came with it....it said they won't guranteee my dorm without a prior reservation.... which i don't think i have done.if you can pass on the number it would be great!!! wish me luck!

[jess.ylz]

in addition to the admission letter and the jw202, i also got "notes to new students." item 10 has the registration procedure.

Accommodation: reserve room at the Reception of West Gate International House (1st Flor, Tel: 86-10-68933351)

let me know if they tell you anything useful.

[Mazuahaa]

there is no more room for international students on campus.everything was pretty basic... no new information.now i have to look for something off campus. oh my!

[jess.ylz]

best of luck! there's not much available in english-language listings for the area.

[zhouhaochen]

I havent studied at Minda, but if it is anything like most of the other universities that teach Chinese in Beijing, living in the dormitories is not necessarily the best option. They tend to be quite a bit more expensive than comparable accomodation available outside. Check www.cityweekend.com.cn or www.thebeijinger.com for english language apatment information.

Might be limited for accomodation around Mingda though. In that case, dont worry too much, you can stay in a hostel first for a week or so and find accomodation close to campus via an agent, just walk into one of the many many agents around and ask them to help you.

[smithsonians]

i currently studying at minda for a year and next term gonna be my 2nd semester.

well since the east gate been under construction there's a lot of students couldnt get any room in west gate so for them who didnt get it have to live in the hotel near there,its name zhongxie.

and some of them who didnt get any room next semester gonna move outside or change the university since it is not really comfortable staying there.

[jess.ylz]

are you studying chinese or something else smithsonians? how do you find the teaching?

[smithsonians]

what teaching?

i study chinese language here.so though u didnt get the dorm in minda,do u still want to go to this university or find somewhere else?

[jess.ylz]

i have already found an apartment and will commute to school. i was just wondering how the quality of the teaching of chinese was at minda.

[smithsonians]

what do u mean by commute?

well in my opinion the way minda's teachers taught us is good,before i went here 4 months ago,my chinese was really poor,but now i know a lot of and at least able to communicate with the others.

and anyway do u mind if i know where are u from?

[jess.ylz]

i've gotten an apartment in wudaokou and will take the bus or metro to school everyday. i'm from canada but i've already been studying in harbin for one semester where i've been lucky to have good teachers (and at beida two summers ago), so i'm hoping i will have similar luck in beijing.

[smithsonians]

but why u chose cun at last?

anyway,if u rent an apt in wudaokou isnt it too far to minda?

i think its better if u rent the apt near minda,there's this place name weibohao,its very near and some of my american friends and kazakhstan lived there.but there are also another apt near here that u can easily found.

well thats just my 2 cent

[jess.ylz]

it's not so far. there are two bus routes and line 4 that will take me straight to minda. i already have a place and friends in the neighbourhood anyway.

i chose CUN because i'm hoping to take some more electives in minority cultures (politics?) than the usual offerings of taichi and paper cutting offered at most other unis. do you know if chinese language students are able to enrol in or audit the classes taught in english for the ethnology series? the CUN website says they also offer minority language classes as electives. i've emailed the office that took care of my application but they haven't yet responded to my questions about elective classes.

[smithsonians]

the problem is i dont think that cun has any other majority taught in english besides chinese and english.

and i suggest u better call them instead of emailed them,since not all the worker there able to speak english unless the officer who took care of ur application able to understand english.

[eduardo_garcia]

Hello my name is Eduardo Garcia. Im Mexican and just back from Beijing few weeks ago. I studied two semesters at Minda, and would like to share with the forum the following:

there were no space available for me at the west dormitory. However, the university made arrangements for me (and for many other international students) at the binguan hotel. This hotel is just 100 meters away the west gate dormitory. The rate is 50 RMB a day, on a double occupation room. I prefered to paid 100 RMB to stay by myself. The hotel is similar to any other city hotel in the world. They provide cleaning services and changed the sheets every week. A/C, TV, internet access, private bathroom. My only negative comments are the followings:

no cooking inside room...nor even a microwave oven is allowed (inspections from school on a regular basis to assure no violations). The university provides many alternatives to eat (from 7 till 21 hours there are restaurants available), however at some point you may want to cook a simple ham and eggs.

no washing machine at hotel, but there are available facilities at the university.

no smoking available at rooms (ok for me) but many students smoked outside my room...anoying.

there are just 3 english channels available.

Regarding those of you wishing to live in wudaoukou...you have to consider a 25 minutes travel time from wudaoukou till minzu. The best option is take the new subway line 4. There is a subway stop about 8 minutes walking distance. There are many bus lines, however the traveling time depens about traffic.

You can find many places to rent a deparment around minzu. If the university is not able to provide you with acomodations, my advice is to stay at binguan hotel for few days and then try to rent an apartment. The only problem is that mostly all of the agents dont speaks english, but is extremely easy to find a student or teacher willing to help you with the translation process.

My advice is to find a place to stay near minzu daxue and if needed go to wudaokou for a beer or clubs. At wudaoukou there are many venues where you can share your free time with foreigners students. In fact, there are just few areas at beijing where you can find bars or clubs; wudaokou, chaoyang , houhai and sanlitun.

I will be happy to help you in any way possible for me. My email address is eduardo_garcia_cabos@hotmail.com, so please feel free to contact me via email or post your questions in the forum.

Best regards,

Eduardo

[smithsonians]

yeah couldnt agree more,AFAIK there's a lot of students feels annoyed over those students who smokes and at night most of them turn music so loud.

it is better for u staying outside rather than the hotel if u're a kind of person who wants a quite calm situation

[eduardo_garcia]

A lot of people smokes in china...is really amazing how bad the problem is. At least in public places, taxis, subway, bus, is forbidden but almost any other place is allowed. Even in CUN a lot of students smokes just outside the building, but if the weather is really cold they even smokes at bathroom.

I really enjoyed my time at Beijing, and still trying to find a way to continue studying there, at least another semester.

Regards,

Eduardo