Stephanie COWLEY

Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Exchange to Zhejiang University, China

This exchange trip to China is one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I met lots of amazing people, made many new friends, and saw and experienced many incredible things.

I lived in Hangzhou, a beautiful city two hours south of Shanghai by train. The beauty and tranquillity of West Lake (Xi Hu) is a pleasure to behold. This, coupled with a lovely warm climate and hospitable people, makes Hangzhou an ideal place in which to live.

For a 19 year-old waiguoren (foreigner) such as me, travelling and living alone in China can be a daunting experience. However I was overwhelmed by the kindness of the Chinese people. On first arriving, I had no idea where I was meant to go or what I was supposed to do, but my taxi driver took the time to help me find the right building at the university, translated my attempts at signing “I’m Australian and I need accommodation”, and even carried my luggage up to my room for me.

The same kindness and generosity was also shown to me by a post-graduate student called Li Cheung who helped me and a group of American students settle in. He helped me set up a bank account, organised internet access for me and even sat with me for hours while I waited for my visa. I felt humbled by his generosity.

Another amazing thing about China is the travelling. It is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I found it very bizarre to have to cram like sardines into buses or to sit on our luggage on trains, but once you reach your destination all is forgotten as the scenery in China is so breathtaking. Imagine standing on the Great Wall of China, looking at the vast landscape and remembering China’s thousands of years of history; or take a walk on the bund in Shanghai and see the city’s transformation from old to new by looking at its myriad of buildings; or take a leisurely stroll in one of Suzhou’s many gardens and enjoy the peace and tranquillity – these are incredible and irreplaceable experiences that I shall treasure forever.

Another incredible sight in China is the streets of 5-storey high buildings, selling clothes, shoes and handbags of every make or colour you can imagine. Every girl will know what I mean when I say the first time I visited these streets, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! The goods were all so beautiful! I think I had definitely contributed to the Chinese economy with the amount of money I spent on shopping. My friends and I loved to spend our weekends shopping and bargaining with the locals. It was such fun, especially when they didn’t know I knew Chinese and was quite good at haggling!

However, the best thing by far about China is the friends I’ve made. It was great to meet so many people from different cultures and backgrounds! I soon discovered that though the English, the Americans and the Australians may all speak the same language, the same word may mean different things to different people. When I talked about buying sunnies, seeing a dodgy bike or drinking cordial, the Brits and the Americans had no idea what I meant! Talking about them now makes me realize how much I miss them. I hope I’ll be able to do more travel in the future and see all of them again.

My parents came to visit me while I was in China. We visited a manufacturer and managed to set up a new business partnership with a company in Shanghai. As a QUT business student this kind of experience is priceless. I was very lucky to attain such experience.

None of this would have been possible without the generous support of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards. Thanks to the scholarship programme, I was given this amazing opportunity that opened my mind to new things and other cultures. I’ll be forever grateful for this life-changing experience and I hope more students will be able to benefit from this scholarship scheme.

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