Studying Chinese in China: Registration and Getting Acclimated at NJU
I didn’t sleep for 24+ hours when I first got onto the NJU campus and there was a lot of stuff to take care of. This article will describe everything you need to know between getting off the plane to feeling comftorable at NJU.
This article is mostly useful for people studying at NJU at the Gulou Campus, but anyone studying Chinese in China will find some value in it.
Fresh off the boat
When you’re off the plane, there’s a lot to do. If in trouble, talk to people around you. Keep all papers given to you by the school, bank, and government.
Culture
Of course I’m going to write a bit about Chinese culture. It’s a lot different from the west, and some generalizations can make things easier to understand.
- Bureaucracy: You’ll need to keep track of a lot of paperwork. There is an authoritarian vibe with lots of deadlines, form numbers, and red stamps. It’s always best to make some expat friends and politely ask them questions about certain processes.
- Service Workers: In my experience, clerks and staff are not as friendly as other countries. Try to be nice to them and they should be nice back.
- Lunchtime: Lunch is strictly between 12-1:30. Shops and offices typically close during this time. People usually eat lunch communally, so always try to find people to spend lunchtime with. Embrace this and things will be much smoother. Many people take naps around 1-2. In the same vein, dinner is usually around 5.
- Traffic: Mopeds will speed around you and people will constantly be honking. Walk predictably and people will move around you. When crossing busy streets, find a break in the traffic and walk deliberately and quickly across. Cars that are going very quickly towards you tend to slow down.
- Hygiene: If you care about hygiene, bring hand sanitizer around. Most bathrooms do not have soap and there is a noticeable lack of cleanliness in many places. I’d recommend getting used to it and doing what the locals do.
- Being a Foreigner: You have a special status if you don’t look asian. If you’re white, people associate you with actors/actresses and fetishize things like long blonde hair and blue eyes. If you’re darker skinned, they associate you with athletes and can be racist. People will want to take pictures with you and some chinese will get very clingy.
More on this next time.
Getting Money
If you brought cash, exchange just a bit at the airport’s currency exchange (货εΈε ζ’). The airports have much worse rates for currency exchanges. If you brought the bank card, look for a legitimate ATM and withdraw the maximum amount of cash. Withdraw cash every day since you’ll need to pay for 9500ε tuition, 4500ε + for housing, and misc Expenses in advance. ATMs typically have a 2000-3000ε limit every day so it’s good to amass about 20000ε if possible.
Your end goal with money is to get it from your foreign bank account into cash via ATM and depositing it into your Chinese banking account.
Getting to the University
From the airport, the objective is to get to Nanjing University’s Zeng Xianzi Lou, the international building – ζ±θηεδΊ¬εΈιΌζ₯ΌεΊζ±ε£θ·―22ε·. It’s located on the northwest corner of the Gulou campus. Write this address down or print it off so you can ask strangers for directions if needed!
There’s a few options for getting to campus. The most expensive but most convenient would be cabs. NOTE: Find cabs that look legitimate. They should be yellow and have a clear taxi sign on the top. You will need to wave them down – If someone is following you and saying “taxi,” this is an illegitimate taxi (ι»θ½¦) and will cost you much more.
The other way would be to take public transport which will be cheaper but take a long time. You would be taking the S1 speedy train to the Nanjing South Railway Station, then line 1 north to the Gulou stop, then taking line 4 one stop to the west to the Yunan Lu stop (or just walk west from gulou stop). While it might be cheaper, it’s worth the money to take a cab. You’ve taken a long flight and have a lot more ahead of you, you deserve it!
Surviving
For food, just go anywhere and find something to eat. Expect to pay 10ε -18ε for a decent meal. Find somewhere that looks clean and has a lot of other customers. If you’re a vegetarian, tell them you “chi su” every time you order food. For drinking, find a reputable store and buy bottled water. DO NOT DRINK WATER FROM THE TAP UNLESS BOILED. When using the bathroom, you will typically only find squat toilets. They will usually not have toilet paper, so make sure you buy packs of tissue from stores. For paying, use cash until you have a chinese bank account. After that use wechat/alipay.
Banking
As soon as you can, get a Chinese bank account. The best place to do this is ICBC. You’ll need to bring in your passport and ask them to open a bank account, and will need some money to get started. TODO ADDRESS
Arriving at Zeng Xianzi Lou and the Registration Process
The registration process takes place by completing tasks at a table, then moving to the next table. Make sure you have your passport and your acceptance letter.
Paying for Tuition/Insurance/Dorms
The best way to do this is to get money into a chinese bank account and using Alipay. Otherwise you can use cash. Later on in the registration they do not take cash. If you cannot pay for tutition immediately, you can pay at a later time through alipay. They may say that you need to pay immediately, but you have about a week of leeway if you have a valid excuse.
Getting your SIM card
There should be a seperate table that will help you get a working SIM card for about 100ε . This is a special deal between China Unicom and NJU and will be very easy. If the table closes down, find a sheet of paper about this deal and bring it to a China Unicom shop later on and they can do the same deal. Bring your passport and a bit more than 100ε .
Shelter
There’s three options for student housing: Zeng Xianzi Lou, Dorm 13, and off-campus housing. If you’re a scholarship student, you’ll be given housing in advance.
Dorms
Zeng Xiangzi Lou is the building for registration and classes, so choose this one if you want hotel-like amenities and easy access to class. You’re pretty far away from the main student body and canteen, but the rooms are comfortable. It’s much like a hotel, and there are 1-2 people to a room. The security is generally not as strict as Dorm 13.
Dorm 13 is mostly for scholarship students and may not be open to self-paying students. There are typically 3 to a room. If this wasn’t assigned to you, you might not be able to get in. Ask around if you’re curious.
Off-campus is the most tricky: You need to find a house for rent, sign the contract, pay for the deposit, some rent in advance, and probably a finding fee. The best thing I’ve found to do is to network – Ask students where they get housing, if they know any agents, etc. There is an agent that I had luck with named “Sunny” who speaks english. She can be found in a reality office on εη§ζ west of δΈζ΅·θ·― on the south side of the street next to a daycare. You will pay for the convenience though.
When buying off-campus housing, expect to pay 3 months rent plus the security deposit up front, as well as a half-month’s rent for a finding fee to the agent. You can try to negotiate, but you don’t have much bargaining power if you’re doing a short-term contract. Real estate agents can move houses very quickly, and it is entirely possible for an effective agent to get you signing a contract and moving into a house within a day or two.
The cheapest option is getting two friends together and moving into a three-bedroom house. In this case, expect to pay 1500-2000ε each per month. Otherwise there are some one-person rooms that go for 2500-3500ε . Prices go down the more floors a room is (it’s common to find rooms that are 4-5 flights of stairs up!), farther from the university, or in worse locations. Generally, lower your standards when looking for a room in china in terms of upkeep and quality, but expect the landlord to fix things like broken hot water, locks, or AC.
The Residency Permit Process
You thought the CCP made it hard to get into the country to study? Wait until you see how difficult it is to live here. There’s a whole slew of paperwork to complete as soon as you sign a contract.
Choosing Classes
When choosing a level and class, consider the following:
- If you plan on studying seriously, I would recommend choosing a level above what you would normally be comfortable with, especially if it’s your first significant amount of time in china. If you study for a while every day, you’ll catch up to everybody else.
- Try to find classes with mature classmates that participate in class and are actively interested in learning the language.
- Some teachers are better than others, try to figure out which are good or bad in the first week or two.
- It’s better to focus on presentation rather than character recitation, so find classes that encourage that.
When you’re set in the class, here’s some tips:
- Make friends with people that don’t speak your native language. It’s great practice speaking student-level chinese to each other outside of class.
- Sit in the first two rows, and sit near people that are at your level or better. When you do group exercises it’s important to sit by people you want to work with.
- Make friends with as many people as possible, including teachers.
- Try to get with classmates after class or lunch to study together.
More on studying later.