Tianjin 天津

I'm going to Tianjin! 我要去天津！

Following my recent announcement that I will be coming to China to further my studies in Chinese, I can now confirm that I have been admitted to Tianjin University (天津大学).

Tianjin is located in North East China, just a half hour express train from Beijing and is the sixth largest city in the Republic of China. It is also situated next to the coast and so seafood tends to dominate the menu. Tianjin is also famous for Eight Great Bowls (八大碗), which is a mixture of eight dishes, mainly meat and the Four Great Stews (四大扒) which is actually a very large number of stews, including seafood, mutton, beef, chicken and duck… mmmm! I will have to sample these and tell you more another time.

As for Tianjin University, it was formally known as Peiyang University which was founded in 1895 and was later renamed to Tianjin University in 1951. It was my second choice on my scholarship. My first choice was Peking University (北京大学), the top university in China which is of course very difficult to get into, but I tried. My third choice was Beijing Jiaotong University (北京交通大学), a middle rank university. As I am quite familiar with Beijing, Beijing was a city which I had hoped to study in. I also have friends in Tianjin and it’s not too far from Beijing which is why I included Tianjin in my application. I’m very excited about what awaits me in Tianjin and my adventure China.

Road2China Competition

Hi guys,


My friend and I have been working really hard over the last couple of days to build a brand new shiny site for my blog which I hope you will all enjoy. I’ll also be hosting it on a server NOT owned by Google so everyone in China will hopefully be able to access it. But, I need your help!

I need a header to go at the top of my website but I’m no wizz with Photoshop. And so I’d like to run a small competition.

Design a header for my site and email to me at road2china88@googlemail.com. The header I find most 漂亮 (beautiful) and 有意思 (interesting) will become the header for my new site. It should be themed around China and/or Chinese culture. Not only will the winning header become part of Road2China, I’ll put your name and a link to your site (if you have one) at the bottom of my site so that everybody knows that it is your masterpiece at the top of my blog!

Please email your entries by Sunday 15th August. I’m hoping to launch the new look site shortly after. All entries must be original and your own work.

Good luck, and hope to hear from you soon!

李华

Chinese Universities

For those considering applying for the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme next year, it’s important to consider which universities you will pick.


When choosing your university consider the following three things:

• Where do I want to study, which region, city

• Does the university have a good reputation

• Does the university have a good reputation for what I want to study

The Chinese Government Programme does not support all universities, although the list of universities they do accept is quite comprehensive. I have provided a list of universities which are supported by the programme by province/city. Hope this helps.

李华

Beijing

Minzu University of China

China University of Political Science and Law

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE CHINESE ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

NORTH CHINA ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE UNIVERSITY OF THE CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (GUCAS)

CENTRAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

THE CENTRAL ACADEMY OF DRAMA

CENTRAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS

RENMIN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA

CHINA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY (CAU)

CHINA UNIVERSITY OF GEOSCIENCES (BEIJING)

CHINA FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNIVERSITY

CAPITAL INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

CAPITAL NORMAL UNIVERSITY

CAPITAL UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF CHINESE MEDICINE

BEIJING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE UNIVERSITY

Tianjin


TIANJIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TIANJIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

TIANJIN UNIVERSITY OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

TIANJIN MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

TIANJIN FOREIGN STUDIES UNIVERSITY (TFSU)

TIANJIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY

TIANJIN UNIVERSITY

NANKAI UNIVERSITY


Liaoning Province


Dalian Medical University

DALIAN UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DONGBEI UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMICS

LIAONING NORMAL UNIVERSITY

CHINA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

SHENYANG NORMAL UNIVERSITY

LIAONING UNIVERSITY

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

DALIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

DALIAN MARITIME UNIVERSITY

Jilin Province

YANBIAN UNIVERSITY

JILIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY

CHANGCHUN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

BEIHUA UNIVERSITY

NORTHEAST NORMAL UNIVERSITY

Heilongjiang Province

HARBIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY

JIAMUSI UNIVERSITY

HEILONGJIANG UNIVERSITY

HARBIN ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY

HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


Shanghai


University of Shanghai for Science and Technology

SHANGHAI NORMAL UNIVERSITY

TONGJI UNIVERSITY

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

SHANGHAI CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF SPORT

SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS (SUFE)

EAST CHINA NORMAL UNIVERSITY

EAST CHINA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DONGHUA UNIVERSITY

FUDAN UNIVERSITY

Jiangsu Province

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Soochow University

NANJING AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

NANJING UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

CHINA UNIVERSITY OF MINING AND TECHNOLOGY

CHINA PHARMACEUTICAL UNIVERSITY

YANGZHOU UNIVERSITY

NANJING UNIVERSITY OF CHINESE MEDICINE

NANJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY

JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY

HOHAI UNIVERSITY

SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY

NANJING UNIVERSITY


Zhejiang Province

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

Zhejiang University of Technology

CHINA ACADEMY OF ART

ZHEJIANG NORMAL UNIVERSITY

NINGBO UNIVERSITY

ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY

Anhui Province


HEFEI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA ( USTC )

ANHUI NORMAL UNIVERSITY

ANHUI UNIVERSITY


Fujian Province


XIAMEN UNIVERSITY


Jianxi Province

JINGDEZHEN CERAMIC INSTITUTE

NANCHANG UNIVERSITY

Sahndong Province


OCEAN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA

SHANDONG NORMAL UNIVERSITY

SHANDONG UNIVERSITY

Huebei Province


ZHONGNAN UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW

CHINA UNIVERSITY OF GEOSCIENCES (WUHAN)

WUHAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

HUAZHONG NORMAL UNIVERSITY

HUAZHONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

WUHAN UNIVERSITY


Hunan Province


Xiangtan University

Hunan Normal University

CENTRAL SOUTH UNIVERSITY

HUNAN UNIVERSITY
Guangdong Province

SHANTOU UNIVERSITY

SOUTH CHINA NORMAL UNIVERSITY

SOUTHERN MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

SOUTH CHINA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

SOUTH CHINA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

GUANGZHOU UNIVERSITY OF CHINESE MEDICINE

SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY


Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region

Guangxi University for Nationalities

GUANGXI NORMAL UNIVERSITY

GUANGXI MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

GUANGXI UNIVERSITY

Sichuan Province


UNIVERSITY OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA

SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY

SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMICS

SICHUAN UNIVERSITY


Yunnan Province


KUNMING UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

YUNNAN UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS

YUNNAN UNIVERSITY

YUNNAN NORMAL UNIVERSITY


Chongqing

SOUTHWEST UNIVERSITY
Shaanxi Province


Xidian University

Shaanxi Normal University

NORTHWEST A&F UNIVERSITY

NORTHWESTERN POLYTECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

XI'AN JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY

CHANG'AN UNIVERSITY

Gansu Province


NORTHWEST NORMAL UNIVERSITY

LANZHOU JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY

LANZHOU UNIVERSITY

Guizhou Province

GUIZHOU UNIVERSTIY
Neimenggu Autonomous Region
INNER MONGOLIA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

INNER MONGOLIA NORMAL UNIVERSITY

INNER MONGOLIA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

INNER MONGOLIA UNIVERSITY

Xinjiang Weiwuer Autonomous Region

Shihezi University

XINJIANG MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

XINJIANG NORMAL UNIVERSITY

XINJIANG UNIVERSITY


Ningxia

Ningxia University
Henan
Zhengzhou University

Chinese Government Scholarship Programme

Hey guy’s, so I just got all my papers through from the Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union regarding my scholarship and all I can say is that it’s official. It makes it seem so real actually having something through the post rather than an email.

My letter reads:

“I have the honour to inform you that you have been selected to join the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme (EU Window) for 2010-2011 academic year.

While extending to you our warm congratulations, I hope that this will offer you an excellent opportunity to improve your Chinese language proficiency as well as your knowledge of Chinese culture and civilization, economy and trade, and people and society. Your study experience in China will not only benefit your own career development, but also to better understanding between the Chinese and European peoples…”

It is an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to be able to focus my efforts fully on learning Chinese and increase my proficiency rapidly. Think I’ll have to do a HSK exam before and after to see how I get on.

I’ll let you know which university I have been admitted to soon and where I’ll be staying in China. In the mean time I have a lot to prepare, including visa’s, flights, time off work (if my company will let me. I also have to complete a ‘Foreigner Physical Examination’ form which I’m not even sure where to start with. I’ll have to contact my doctor. If anyone from the UK has ever had one of these examinations before let me know.

李华

How to apply for a Chinese scholarship

I’ve had many requests around the details of my scholarship to China and how to apply. I found that the information available made the application process fairly difficult. Many of those who have been awarded the scholarship are unaware of the next steps, including myself and I am awaiting materials in the post.


However, to get to my stage I thought I would blog a simple ‘to do’ list to help others in their applications for next year.

Firstly, the scholarship programme I applied for is only available to citizens of the EU; however there are many more scholarships available to wherever you are in the world.

SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES SPONSORED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT

I found a number of websites about the scholarship with inconsistent deadlines, some say end of April, and some say end of March. Play is safe and get your applications in before the end of March.


The earliest you can submit your application is January, but there’s nothing stopping you in getting all your material ready for then.
So, here’s what you’ll need to do for then:

Register for the following site: http://laihua.csc.edu.cn

You’ll need to select the scholarship you want, I applied for the Chinese Government Scholarship.

On the application number you’ll need to fill in an agency number. Each scholarship programme has a unique agency number, e.g. the one for the Chinese Government Scholarship is 00006.

You’ll also need to select up to three universities you wish to apply for. I’ll provide a list of universities which are supported by the scholarship on my next post.

Once you’ve completed the application you’ll need to print at least two copies.

You’ll then need to prepare a number of documents to support your application. You should submit two copies of each of these documents:

• A copy of your highest diploma or university certificate

• If you are in employment you’ll need a letter from your company to prove that you are working for them

• Academic transcripts: which show your individual grades from your degree, diploma, etc. You may need to contact your college, university for a copy

• A study plan, explaining why and what you’ll do with your scholarship (at least 400 words) This is a chance to show your personality and why you amongst all the other applicants deserve the scholarship. Watch out for a copy of mine in future posts.

• A recommendation letter. I submitted two, one from the head teacher of my Chinese school and one from a senior manager at my work. For a copy of these please see Chinese Government Scholarship Program

Also include a large stamped addressed envelope to yourself. This is so they can post material around your scholarship back to you. Since the application office is in Belgium my post office couldn’t tell me how much it would cost to post back to me, and so I bought a packet of 1st class stamps and stuck them all to the envelope!


The address which you need to post your application off to is: Office for Education and Culture, Mission of P. R. China to the European Union.

Plan ahead, as it may take time to gather all the material and to choose the university which is right for you.

Hope this all helps and there’ll be more on Chinese scholarships soon.

李华

Chinese Government Scholarship Program

So this morning when I logged onto my email I got a big surprise:
“Dear Scholarship Recipients,
Congratulations!
It's very pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to joint the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme(EU Window) for 2010/2011 academic year.


The admission notice will be sent to your mailing address by post very soon.


Kindly acknowledge the receipt by e-mail once it reaches you.
(please find you name on the below website: http://www.chinamission.be/eng/sthd/t716817.htm)
With best wishes,
Office for Education & Culture
Mission of the People's Repubilc of the China to the European Union”

I was wowed; receiving a scholarship from the Chinese government is something I have only dreamed of until now. When I travelled to China earlier this year for the spring festival I met a random guy in a bar who told me of his tale of how he got a scholarship to study Chinese and now works in a PR firm in Beijing.

As soon as I returned from my trip I started searching for scholarships, I found it hard to find what I was looking for. There are a number of scholarships out there but none of which I would meet the criteria. I almost gave up until I found the Chinese Government Scholarship Programme which is in association with the European Union. However by the time I found out about the scholarship I had just one week left to apply!

I immediately started to gather all the documents I needed for the application. I contacted my former university (Brunel) for a transcript of my grades.

I needed references to support my application. I tried to find the most influential people who would be able to provide an excellent reference. In this instance I contacted my Mandarin teacher who is also head of the school, and a senior manager from my firm.

My reference from my Mandarin teacher reads below:

“This is to certify that Ben has been enrolled at the Waltham Forest Chinese Association Sunday Chinese School since September 2007. He came to the school with a good background in spoken Mandarin already and wished to learn Chinese writing. He was enrolled in Infant Class Three, during the academic year 2007/2008, beginning to learn written Chinese, and has obtained very good results with year prize. In the following year he was enrolled in Class Lower One, which equivalent to semester one of primary one in China, and has topped the class again with year prize. With his good results the Sunday Chinese School proposed that he should progress to Class Upper Two, which he has jumped two levels, by the end of the academic year 2009/2010. He has jumped two levels, including Class Upper One and Class Lower Two. His result in Class Upper Two so far has been excellent. He is able to recognise many traditional fonts and has been practicing simplified fonts in all his work. His spoken Mandarin and written Chinese have improved tremendously since he joined the school.

Ben is interested to study Chinese in China and wishes to apply for a scholarship allowing him to fulfil such commitments. I fully support his application and wish him all the best.”

Reference from senior manager in my firm:

It's been my pleasure to work with Ben and mentor him on corporate communications for the last 18 months.

I believe that the experience Ben has gained by working in a large organisation has seen him mature and grow in stature - and also helped him to understand more about what he wants from his career.

The chance to study at a University in China sounds like a dream come true for him. It's the perfect opportunity for someone who has proven his prowess in academia, embraced a new language very quickly, gained real experience in a business environment, and who is now demonstrating the confidence to take control of his life to set himself in a new direction with fresh ambitions.

Working with Ben, it is clear that he has an appetite for knowledge and a desire to broaden his horizons. Ben's easy to work with - he's extremely approachable, helpful, good-natured, and quick-to-learn. And he's motivated by new challenges, new technology and new ideas.

It was quite mind-blowing when I first learned of Ben's passion for the Chinese language. At a team meeting each person had to reveal something new about themselves and Ben chose to speak in Mandarin. It was one of those moments when all in the room were hushed and taken back!

It would be a shame to see him leave the company but I firmly believe he would be a great asset to any University.


I genuinely wish Ben every success in his application for a scholarship.”

I’d like to thank both my teacher and my co-worker who supported me in my application for the scholarship. Without it I believe the scholarship would not have been a success.

I was lucky enough to get all the documents I needed for the application in time and sent it next day delivery to the Mission of the People's Republic of the China to the European Union in Brussels. However I was mortified when the application arrived at my home the next day due to the Post Office making a mistake! I got my application sent off again immediately and it arrived in Brussels with one day to go before the deadline.

I’ve been waiting to find out if my application was successful or not since March and finally the waiting is over! There are still a few more things to do before I go to China such as a medical check and arrange my visa. I still don’t know which university I got into. On the application you are allowed to apply for three and I applied for: Peking University, Tianjin University and Beijing Jiaotong University
I first considered applying to the top three universities in China, however I then thought that the competition may be too fierce and so I spread my risk. The universities I have applied to are the 1st, 7th, and 57th best universities in China.

I’ll let you know how I get on however the following link provides more information about the Chinese Government Scholarship Program.

Chinese Cinema

Films were first came to China in 1896 and the first Chinese film was made in 1905 which was ‘The Battle of Dingjunshan’ (not a kung fu movie). In the 1920-30’s Shanghai was the Hollywood of the East, it was a new and exciting era and people had money to spend on entertainment.

Films around in the 1920’s were down-to-earth and about people’s lives. In 1940 things heated up and the government used the film industry as a form of propaganda (it didn’t take them long). Films pre 1940 were banned and films produced from then on needed to be ‘politically correct.’

Nowadays Chinese cinema has mastered the art of movie making and boasts an archive of fantastic films that can bring tears to the eyes, To Live (秋菊打官司) being one of them.
Chinese cinema is also having a big impact in the West as Chinese directors such Zhang Yimou target western audiences. Film’s you may have seen by Zhang Yimou include The House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and Curse of the Golden Flower. However, as great a director he may be, many Chinese feel he has sold out and lost site of the traditional Chinese cinema.
A blog on Chinese cinema isn’t complete without mentioned Jackie Chan (成龙) who is probably one of the most famous and most respected Chinese actors in both the East and the West.

One thing to mention about Western films in China is that officiously only a limited amount of films are allowed to be shown in cinema per year and they are hand picked by the government for their content. In fact Disney was banned in China for many years until they released Mulan and made their way into China’s good books.