Best!

Regarding accommodation, ALWAYS check the room before you pay… this is China, the motherland to rip-offs! ^^; Personally, I wouldn’t want to stay with someone because I like my own space and I’ld feel like I was intruding… but that’s personal preference.

@Alan If you get yourself a local language partner, ask them if they know of the club you mentioned, they might be able to help.
I didn’t realise there was a plane that was quarantined =S Take care of yourself!

Happy Belated Mother’s Day. I apologized I just tuned back in and read your comments. I just landed in Beijing and fortunately I wasn’t on the plane that was quarantined even though I was very nervous as to who sat on my flight in the rows behind me.

I’m going to go out and go-about the Tsinghua Univ. area and see if I can find this cafe you mentioned in regards to “encouraging foreign/local students” to practice Putonghua.

The weather here is sunny and see if I can tolerate my 1st summer in Beijing and stay away from the mosquitos, hehe. Thanks and keep in touch Selina.

Stay safe down under,

Alan
Beijing

Thanks for the great blog! This is the best source I’ve found for figuring out what student life in Beijing is like. I was curious, the dates for the short term course are better for my schedule, but is it better to take the year-long course than two short-term semesters in terms of how much Chinese you learn during the year? I took a language class in Qingdao and it was really easy to slack off when the other int’l kids weren’t there for as long and didn’t take it too seriously. I’d like to use my time well, but also prefer the starting date of the short-term course.

Also… for finding apartments off campus, is it generally advisable to visit them first rather than try to arrange it online? I’ll be in Beijing for the whole year starting in the fall so wanted to find a nice home rather than use the dorms. Do you think getting hooked up with a well-off Chinese family and living in as a part-time tutor for their kids while studying might be a good way to go, or would that be awkward? Thank you so much for your help!

Is the club you’re referring to made up of locals or internationals? I remember a cafe near Tsinghua which encouraged English/Chinese speaking students to practice. But as for a club called “English/Chinese Corner” I can’t be too sure.

I’ll send out an email to a fellow reader who is currently at BLCU to see if they know anything. Will keep you posted =)

Thx for the material on website, I really enjoyed it. I concurred with everything you diclosed here even though I didn’t attend the orientation. I was there for a 1 month course last year and will be back very shortly for more classroom experience. My question to you is..was there a club call “English/Chinese Corner” @ BLCU where local students pair up with non-local students and practice speaking? I wasn’t successful in finding one. Thanks again in advance.

Alan
Los Angeles – California