James Oswald

The University of Adelaide, Australia
Exchange to Hebei North University, Mainland China

Thanks to the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship, I am currently living and studying in a small city called Zhangjiakou in northern Hebei province, China, about 200 kilometres north-west of the capital, Beijing. Away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, Zhangjiakou city is a small berg of about 400,000 people. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, the air here is quite fresh and a strong wind frequently blows down the mountain through the city below, which is divided into 2 halves by the mighty Qingshui River. Zhangjiakou is very much under construction – everywhere you look there are old buildings marked for demolition, buildings in the middle of demolition and new buildings being erected. The people of the city are still quite poor; the overflow from the economic development of China has yet to reach these parts. However, the people are hardworking and extremely friendly; they will go miles out of their way to help you and never want a thing in return. They still live quite a traditional life, and are always full of curiosity whenever a foreigner walks by. I’ve had countless encounters in restaurants where I’ll walk in by myself and within 5 minutes I’ll be sitting at a table full of locals firing the usual entourage of questions at me. This environment is perfect for my plans to study Chinese; no nightlife, very few foreigners (I could count them on my hands) and friendly people everywhere willing to help.

University life here is very much different to back in Australia. University starts at 8am in the morning, which has been very hard to get used to. When the daytime temperature starts dropping below 0?C I imagine it will become even harder. I’m studying Mandarin Chinese with other Chinese students which has also been quite challenging. My classmates are all studying to be teachers, so they need to learn Mandarin to use as a teaching tool. They all come from the poorer northern regions of China so their Mandarin isn’t the most “standard”, although the fact that they are Chinese means they definitely have a head start on me. As well as studying Mandarin, I am also studying Modern Chinese and Chinese Literature, the latter being really useful for better understanding and coming to terms with a culture so very different from my own. Being the only foreigner in a class full of Chinese has been a novelty, although I must admit the first day I was so nervous I just wanted to hide under the desk. Now all is well, I’m back on my chair and I’m making some really great friends. Recently I went climbing up the local Yu’er Mountain with them, Zhangjiakou’s highest mountain, and we had a really great time. On the top of the mountain we were surprised to find a house with 2 men living in it, they are self-sufficient with their own garden full of vegetables and rabbits used for meat. They took us into their house, gave us some water to drink and told us about the mountain and the surrounding area. The Great Wall runs over the mountain, although this section is little more than a pile of rubble these days. They also showed us some bunkers built into the side of the mountain left over from the Second World War; it was truly a day full of unexpected surprises!!

2 months have gone by here quite quickly, but being in a small city it seems I’ve already done it all. Being so close to Beijing though, it is more than possible to “pop down” to Beijing for the weekend. I’ve done it a few times already. The weather has become quite cold, and within a month it will start snowing and freezing over. I’m not used to such cold winters, but I do love a challenge. Also, this city is not so far from the north-eastern city of Ha’erbin, well known for its ice sculptures. Nor is it so far from Inner Mongolia, home of sheep and salty milk tea, so the possibilities of adventure are many. I often marvel at how lucky I am to have received such an amazing opportunity to experience a life so different from life in Australia. Without the scholarship from Cheung Kong I would not have this opportunity, this life-changing experience that I will never forget.

For any fellow alumni who read this and would like to come and visit, contact me through the listing and I’ll be more than happy to have you stay and show you around.

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