Adriel Cheng

The University of Adelaide, Australia
Exchange to Tsinghua University, China

My research exchange institution was Tsinghua University, located in the culturally rich capital city of Beijing. Tsinghua University is well known as one of the top universities in Asia, and certainly the best university in China. Hence, I was eagerly looking forward to collaborating with some of China’s leading research specialists, and learning the long history that founded this nation the way it is today.

China is often referred formally as the People’s Republic of China, to signify the importance of its people that built up this nation, and every citizen living harmoniously to serve the country’s advancement and greater good. The heart and soul of this country is certainly evident from its people, and indeed, there are people, people, and more people EVERYWHERE!

My first day at Tsinghua was greeted with hoards of students roaming the campus; briskly going about their enrolment and induction activities as the first day of semester approached. Everywhere I laid my eyes on, there were gatherings of students, teachers, and other university staff. It felt like morning peak rush hour, but I was told this was a typical and normal scene. In fact, the campus population would grow even bigger in the coming days as more students and staff returned from their home towns. As I ventured into other regions of Beijing, and China in general, the crowds of people were a sight to behold. I found it remarkable that such a large population of people can reside, work together and help each other with the common goal of developing themselves and bringing their nation forward. Everyone living and working toward a common good – this was a lasting impression that would stay with me forever.

Before arriving in Beijing, I had decided to stay at the international students’ dormitory on campus. This was recommended by my host professor at Tsinghua, as it would be most convenient for traveling to and from the research laboratory. Looking at the campus map, I was easily convinced the two locations were well within walking distance. However, the scale indicated on the map was unfortunately not as accurate as I should have assumed. After walking to the office on the first day, I quickly realized walking would not be a practical option. Observing the number of students zooming pass on their bicycles, and arriving at their destinations swiftly, I went out and bought a ‘Freedom’ bicycle. Suitably branded as ‘Freedom’, my bicycle would give me the independence to simply get up and travel to many places all over campus, and even to surrounding districts such as Peking University and Old Summer Palace.

Purchasing the bicycle was indeed a blessing in disguise. I was able to explore all parts of the campus and discover to my amazement, how big it was. Tsinghua campus can be likened to a mini community within Beijing, whereby university students and staff not only live, study or work within campus, but are served with wide-ranging facilities like a hospital, shopping stores, dining halls, cafes, restaurants, parks, and other sporting, recreational and entertainment amenities. Given the campus was almost as large as the Adelaide CBD by my estimation, and in addition to the large university population and ample facilities, I felt I was living within a small satellite city hidden within Beijing.

During my six months in China, besides the collaborative research work being undertaken, I was fortunate to experience numerous Chinese specific cultural activities and travel to some amazing attractions. During the mid-semester holidays, the international student department organized a day trip to the Great Wall. The Great Wall is certainly a sight to behold! Despite being built so many centuries ago, the engineering precision and remarkable military architectural features were highly advanced for that period in history. The view of the great wall meandering through the hilltops for as far as the eye could see was quite simply breathtaking.

A number of other festivals and events also stood out during my stay. I experienced the Chinese National Independence Day at Tianamen Square as hundreds of patriotic Chinese packed into the enclosure to watch the flag raising and lowering ceremony. Chinese Spring Festival was also a memorable time. Many immigrant students and workers returned to their home towns to bring in the Chinese New Year with their families. It was the first time the University and the city in general felt so deserted. For the few locals and international students that remained, we were treated to some loud and visually spectacular fireworks as just about every family lit off their own pyrotechnics for the entire holiday week! You see, the Chinese government had decided to lift a ten-year ban on fireworks the previous year, and the locals were certainly making the most of this opportunity.

My time in China also taught me some interesting skills. I took up Tai Chi at the local University courtyard and through the excellent training from our “lao shi” (teacher), I learnt how these slow movements were in fact highly effective martial arts defense and attack steps. Prior to the end of semester, a dumpling making competition was also held in the main dining hall, which I enthusiastically signed up for. Our team consisted of mixed international students and local Chinese. After some basic instructions from the dumpling chef, each team set about making their dumplings. Urged on by our local Chinese team mates, our team made the most dumplings and were victorious winners of the competition. The only downside being dumplings champions was that we had to eat what we made, and after a bowl of dumplings each, we all realized we had made far too many, and that the challenge in this competition was not making the dumplings but in fact, finishing what you made!

The opportunity to work with some of the most experienced professors and brightest research students at Tsinghua was tremendously rewarding. Chinese academics and students in general are extremely dedicated and disciplined in their studies. They work hard and play hard. During lunch times and evenings, the sports fields and recreational arts building are packed with social and formally organized sports games or extra curricular activities. At other times, the classrooms and library are filled with students attending classes or undertaking personal studying. After all, these are the best people that have competed with millions of other students during their secondary schooling to gain a place at this top university. Whilst working with my colleagues at Tsinghua, we would often have many long and interesting technical discussions and debates on our research – I found this extremely rewarding as I was exposed to different research technical views and opinions. Given our areas of research has been historically led by universities and commercial institutions of English-speaking countries, it was also remarkable how they were so well adapted to conducting and discussing research in English given they had been brought up through their schooling and university learning in Mandarin only. Trying to map each technical term from one language to another would be a challenge in itself, let alone tackling the research problems in our fields.

My time at Tsinghua University and China in general has been filled with numerous unforgettable memories which I will treasure forever. It was a highly rewarding learning experience not only for my research, but I feel enriched with the many cultural traditions and long history that make up the world’s most populous land.

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