VolSU students returned from study in China

For five months VolSU students were getting to know the beautiful country and its people, gaining new knowledge and experience. At the moment they have just returned to VolSU, full of vivid emotions and fond memories of the training.

Zaozhuang University is a great place to learn Chinese. The university has a well-equipped campus with more than ten dormitories, four canteens, a huge sports field and various playgrounds for badminton, volleyball, basketball, football and tennis.

The teachers took the Volgograd students’ training seriously and tried to impart as much knowledge as possible in a short period of time. VolSU students comment: ‘Even if you have never studied Chinese before, here you will learn this difficult language from scratch!’ Students said they were very warmly welcomed in China and settled into a comfortable dormitory.

“During classes we were learning Chinese characters and how to write them, developing our listening skills and immersing ourselves in Chinese history and culture,” Kristina Paramonova, a Linguistics student, says. “We took part in masterclasses that were held weekly during our Culture classes. We participated in decorating fans using dried flowers and leaves, dyed them, learnt Chinese songs, designed traditional opera masks for the Beijing Opera, made Chinese knot pendants and much more!”

“Besides studying, China is a country of immense beauty and colourful cultural attractions,” Kirill Kryuchkov, an International Relations student writes. “Nearby Zaozhuang, there is the stunning cultural and tourist town of Tai'erzhuang (台儿庄) and Baolaojing National Forest Park (抱犊崮国家森林公园), where you can climb its highest mountain for unrivalled views of the province. Make sure to not miss the opportunity to travel and see China! Many pleasant impressions and no less colourful photos will remind you of your time in this unique eastern country.”

“On the very first day, specialists from the International Office of Zaozhuang University helped us to solve all our issues and to adapt to a different country,” Oksana Nikolaeva, an International Relations student, shares. “They immediately helped us to solve communication problems and made SIM cards on which we put 100 yuan (this money was enough for the whole time we stayed in China). At first we lived in a hotel located on campus and after 1.5 months we moved into the international student dormitory. The conditions in the dormitory were good: it was an apartment-style dormitory for six people. Unfortunately, we did not have Chinese bank cards, which caused some difficulties at first. But later we were able to use Alipay without a card. In the canteens and local shops, we used special campus cards. There are canteens, ATMs, and shops on campus. It takes about 15-30 minutes to get to the city by bus”.