Miriam LAI

University of Queensland, Australia
Exchange to Peking University, China

“HOW WAS IT!?!?” has to be the most frequently asked question I’ve received since returning from my semester of exchange at Peking University, China.

“In a nutshell,” I tell them, “I had the time of my life! I recommend exchange to anyone!”

And it’s true. For those whirlwind six months, I got to live in a completely different country, learn its language, study in its most famous university, meet its people, integrate with its culture, customs and traditions, travel, tried the most unique and delicious foods, and made lifelong friends from all over the world!

Living in China was an invaluable experience for learning Chinese. Not only through the intensive classes and fantastic teachers, but by simply being immersed in it and getting to speak it with the locals daily, through ordering food, shopping and haggling, asking for directions, directing cabs and of course, with my Chinese friends. And given the dense population there was never a shortage of opportunity! This boundless access meant that I had constant, ongoing practice in its natural environment. Even just being able to hear it everywhere I greatly improved my aural skills, especially as Chinese is a tonal language.

The best thing about studying abroad was travelling and exploring, and China’s brilliant railway system made it a breeze. Inexpensive and efficient, the train rides were always an adventure in itself. On weekends and during the holidays, a bunch of mates and I would pack our bags and in as little as a few hours, arrive in a different city! These trips quickly dissolved my preconceptions of China, and I soon realised there was much, much more to see than just the smog, dense high rise buildings and overcrowded city of Beijing.

Down south in Dali, Yunnan, we hired bicycles and took a cruisy ride all the way along beautiful Erhai Lake, with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, clouds we could almost touch, and expanses of farm fields of vegetables, fruits and wild flowers. About two hours later we reached a little village of the local ethnic Bai people. Here, we wandered the streets, tried the local eats, and ate freshly handmade and baked baba bread.

In Zhangjiajie we hiked the steep, sharp mountains that inspired the floating mountains in the movie Avatar. In Yangshuo, Guilin, we took a boat cruise along the crystal clear Lijiang River, where we saw the landmark scenic spot printed on the 20 yuan note, fed placid water buffalos, watched cormorant fishermen and dangled our toes as we were rode on two-person bamboo rafts.

Up north, I travelled all the way to Harbin, located right below Russia, to check out their annual Ice Festival. At temperatures of -25oC to -30oC, it was a comparably colder, more ‘real’ winter than I’d ever experienced in Australia. Besides the cold, this city held a lot of character within their European influenced architecture and streets, making it hard to believe we were still in China. Even the youth hostel we stayed at was a converted old Jewish Synagogue! It was an unforgettable experience and the cold ensured we enjoyed feasting on Harbin’s delicious yang rou chuar barbecued lamb skewers, specialty chun bing savoury wraps, authentic Russian fare, and even a renowned ice cream sold on the street!

In total I visited 10 different cities throughout China and am yearning to return to check out more! If I hadn’t already been, I’ve definitely been bitten by the Travel Bug now! But with immense thanks, the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award certainly helped shape my experience of China to become an extraordinary one. Because of it, what I brought home was beyond a suitcase full of luggage, books and souvenirs. I brought back confidence, an established sense of self and independence, my feet on the ground and previously scattered and uncertain head in gear to finish my journalism degree with the ambition to combine it together with travel and further pursuit of learning Chinese!

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