Experience China Fair held in London to encourage British students going to Chin

An Experience China Fair was held Monday afternoon to encourage British students to study or work in China.

A total of 14 Chinese universities set up booths in the London South Bank University, where students could talk with representatives from the colleges so as to learn more about China.

"The fair gives young children an opportunity to get to know China and build up relationship with Chinese colleges," said Bev Jullien, vice chancellor of the London South Bank University.

"China is offering scholarships to encourage British students and provinces provide local scholarships," said Shen Yang, minister counsellor with the Chinese embassy to the UK. "We hope by 2020 China could see 500,000 international students studying there."

The British Council is making endeavour as well by launching a three-year campaign, namely Generation UK, which aims for over 15,000 British students to participate in study abroad or internship programs in China by 2016.

LIFE-CHANGING CHOICE

Two British who had been to China shared their experiences with students.

John Naylor, an architecture graduate went to work in China for two years after finding out that job market in Britain was not very good. "In China you can find the chances that you could never get in the Europe," he said.

He went to China as intern at the beginning, and worked in an architecture firm called MAD in Beijing. The experience changed his perception.

"Before I visited China, I thought it was a place with concrete old buildings," he recalled. But later he fell in love with Beijing, where "people are friendly and I made many friends," he said.

Of course, his biggest achievement was the three projects he completed, including a hotel in Shanghai and an opera house in Harbin. "Some of my friends didn't build anything during the two years," Naylor said. So the experience definitely added some weight to his curriculum vitae.

Nicholas Sheffield, assistant director and chief representative (Beijing) of Rothschild, has a similar story.

At the age of 21, his father gave him a special birthday gift, a flight ticket to China. He learned Chinese language for six months before going back to his own country.

Four years later, when his company asked if he would like to work in China for two years, Sheffield agreed immediately. But he didn't return after two years in 2010, and then met his current girlfriend.

"Infrastructure in Beijing is good and the living cost is lower, " he said. "Some of my closest friends are now in Beijing." The 30-year-old Sheffield enjoys his current life so much that he has no plan to go back to Britain now.

What he would like to tell the British students was "your pre-conception should be left at home before going to China."

SHARING INFORMATION

According to Jazreel Goh, director of education marketing with the British Council China, British student are encouraged to go out, not only to China, so as to broaden their horizon while they are young.

She noticed some changes from student returned from China. "They understand China better and are more willing to go out exploring the world," she said. "Meanwhile, they came back with better skill so as to become more competitive while seeking a job in Britain.

There are two barriers thwarting British students going out: cost and lack of information, Goh said. While scholarships were offered, she hoped that the Fair could help students here know more about Chinese education.

Among the exhibits is the Sichuan University, where there are 2,000 foreign students from 78 countries, including some 20 to 30 from Europe each semester. Courses offered included Chinese language, literature, history, economy, engineering, pharmacy, archaeology, etc.

"The climate is good, the food is delicious and the life is easy in Sichuan," said Gao Jian, director of international student office of the university, adding that many chose to stay in China after graduation.

When asked about life of foreign students in the university, Gao gave a rosy picture. "You could go sight-seeing at leisure times, or do a part-time job to teach English."

He told Xinhua that two other frequently asked questions at the Fair are if they have short-term projects and how to apply for scholarship, and he would give them lots of information.

"We are now having more foreign students," he said, using one word to describe the experience in China as "joyful."