About.com highlights the importance of summer internship

“Internships can help you gain knowledge you may not learn elsewhere and they offer evidence to employers that you have real world experience in the field. Internships also help you to make networking contacts that can be used later in your career and in your future job search”

A summer internship in China can be the springboard for a varied, interesting, and successful career thanks to the skills you learnt whilst working in the country. The country with the fastest growing economy in the world is booming with opportunities for young people making first step on their professional road. Nevertheless, the general opinion is that an internship in China rather difficult to find. Surely there are certain difficulties you will face on the way to your internship in China. That is why more and more students are applying to professional companies like Go Abroad China. We offer a wide range of opportunities with leading Chinese and global companies based in Beijing and Shanghai to suit your requirements.

To complete your internship experience and cultural immersion, we offer Chinese language classes available for learners of any level. Apart from essential daily communication, you will be able to implement skills obtained in the classroom in the professional context. Internship in an international team can bring you to new heights of professional as well as communication and interpersonal skills that are critical for any individual seeking for success in the workplace. A summer internship in China is the perfect way to combine a holiday in an exciting, fast moving and stimulating country with the opportunity to improve your CV.

Therefore, it’s definitely worth considering a summer internship in China. Fantastic time while immersing yourself in the culture and customs of one of the world’s most mysterious countries is guaranteed. As well as improving your own CV and understanding of multinational companies.

If you are planning to master Mandarin Chinese or explore career opportunities in China, you are to find yourself choosing between two popular destinations for foreigners in the country: Beijing and Shanghai.

First of all, it should be said that the two places are not to be compared. They are simply two different. First thing that comes up to a traveler’s mind is that Beijing is the capital and therefore the cultural, political and economical center of the country. Meanwhile,Shanghai is associated with international trade and business.

In BBC’s “On the Road”, Beijing appears as “historic hutongs city”, while Shanghai is called “futuristic metropolis”.

The choice seems hard, but let’s a closer look.

Studies and Career

If you are looking for a Chinese language program,Beijingwould definitely be a better choice. The reason is the “putonghua” (普通话) – standard Mandarin Chinese. It is spoken in Beijing, while the “shanghaihua” (上海话) – Shanghai dialect – is mostly used in Shanghai. This fact turns the whole city ofBeijinginto your classroom. And as the pace of life is slower there, people are friendlier and more opened for random conversations in the streets, shops and public transport. Those who have ever taken a taxi inBeijingwill understand what I mean. Small percentage of Beijingers is fluent in English, but they are always eager to offer you an opportunity to practice your Chinese.

On the other hand,Shanghai is busier and life there flows much faster. This opens more opportunities for career and internship. Most of international companies based in China are located in Shanghai.

Climate and Weather

Winter is milder in Shanghai, therefore most of the buildings have no heating system in them. So if you plan a winter trip,Beijingwill be a warmer option, despite the lower temperature rates. Fall is considered to be the best season in Beijing, while most people come to Shanghai in spring.

Sightseeing and Nightlife

Centuries-thick layers of time cover ancient relics, palaces and temples in Beijing. Imperial gardens, museums and pagodas – this place is perfect for sightseeing and immersing into unique Chinese culture. While the Forbidden City,Summer Palace and the Great Wall stand for Beijing, Shanghai allures travelers with neon lights, picks of skyscrapers, and fashionable clubs and restaurants. Nevertheless, there are a lot of cultural sites to visit in Shanghai, the same as clubs and nightlife areas in Beijing.

Living expenses

It goes without saying,Shanghaiis an absolute leader here. Life in the city of lights is approximately 10-15% more expensive than that in the capital. For instance, accommodation fee inShanghaiis around 1500 RMB higher. The same works for public transportation, clothing, food and daily expenses.

Much can be said about these two great cities, but the truth says all the same: you have to see them with your own eyes and fall in love with one of them forever.

If your first contact with a Chinese university happens to be with BLCU, well, you will have a great first impression of what a Chinese Campus is.

You go into the campus through the main entrance, which as every Chinese building, is facing the East.

The main building is huge, is called Jiaoyilou, and hosts a large number of students attending the annual course program and the bachelor degree in Chinese.
So you find yourself in front of this immense grey and white building, but if you go further a little bit you can see a lot of trees. They are all lined on this long alley, a fresh corridor during the hot summer and a shelter during the cold winter, that stretches all along the university and leads you to the heart of the campus.

Where to eat

Placed in the very center of the campus, the school canteen, recently renovated, is a well-known cafeteria in the area of Wudaokou, for its cheap prices but tasty dishes. Among the costumers of the canteen, besides students from the campus, you can also find workers on lunch break or students from neighbor universities. The reason is simple: the canteen dishes meet everyone’s taste. Not only can you find traditional Chinese dishes, a wide range of gaifan (steamed rice with whatever you want, basically), gaibing and shuijiao (Chinese dumplings), but also a Korean and a Japanese restaurants. For those who miss the Western style cafeteria, you can have an American coffee at Harney’s and Sons Café on the fourth floor.

Sometimes you might want to change and have dinner in a more restaurant-looking place. In BLCU you can find many other different bars and restaurants to have a good meal, according to what you feel like eating. Hope Restaurant and La Vita have a variety of dishes, from the Italian pasta to American hamburgers; in the Conference Center, just behind the Library, you can find both Chinese and Japanese restaurants. Remember the motto is always the same: 又好吃，又便宜 (you haochi, you pianyi – good and cheap).

Where to study, but also have a break

After having their lunch, many students just cross the road and enter the library to study. Besides the quiet study rooms and the books and magazine rooms, where you can borrow what you need, you can spend your afternoon studying in the Library Cafeteria at the first floor. The already mentioned Harney and Sons is a similar place: you can surf the Internet, have a coffee, or study with your friends.
The restaurant La Vita is another place you can go to study during the day: be sure you order your coffee though! (the minimum each costumer has to spend to stay there is 10 RMB).

Sports activities

It might sound strange, but it’s possible to see people doing sports in BLCU sport grounds all year-round, every hour of the day and the evening!It seems that the low temperature of Beijing winter does not refrain students from playing basketball in one of the twelve courts, which are always crowded with improvised teams. That’s why someone prefers to reserve a court to have his personal competition with a group of friends or to take private lessons. The same works for the tennis courts and volley courts, just beside the basketball ground. It’s common to see people practicing Taijiquan, Chinese swords and other traditional sports in the small park between these courts and the gym. Yes, because in BLCU you can also sign up to the gym and do some indoor exercises!

You don’t really have an occasion to get bored here. If one day you feel like swimming you can take a dip in the swimming pool and just beside the gym, in the race track, which runs around a soccer field, you can always see people running, exercising or playing football.

Leisure

If you think that it’s over, you’re wrong.
After having studied all day, having attended your Taijiquan lesson and jogged a little bit on the track, you should still find time to spend with your friends! Where? Ok, if you are a KTV fan you can reserve a room in the Yamahabiko KTV, which is on the left side of the gym. Or maybe you just feel like having a

beer and talking with your friends about the intense day you had, your choice is Caffé Corretto, as the name says (one of the meaning of corretto is right in Italian), it’s the right place if you don’t want to go too far to have fun. You can have dinner or a Tsingdao while playing dices and listening to some good music. The wooden style perfectly matches the most characteristic feature of the pub: a big tree standing inside the room, all covered with decorations and lights!

“To find a fit, experts suggest that students consider their career aspirations and personal likes and dislikes to figure out as closely as possible what an ideal employment situation would look like”

To help you solve this problem we would like to discuss the most important questions you might have.

Big Company VS Small Company

The opportunity to intern in a huge world wide known corporation does look appealing. But the reality is that big companies tend to treat interns less seriously than middle-sized ones. So if you are considering gaining real work experience it would be reasonable to apply for a position in a company with a smaller amount of employees. This way you can make sure you will get a lot of tasks to fulfill, and gain the experience respectively.

Full-time Employment Opportunities

Some companies are looking for interns to participate in short or long-term projects. Such positions will leave you with zero chances for full-time employment. If you are going to intern abroad, it’s better to choose a company with stable overseas partners. That would mean they need foreign staff all the time. Some of the companies state that they will be considering employment opportunities for interns.

Duration of Internship Program

It totally depends on your goals. One month would be quite enough to enliven your resume with overseas working experience. But if you really want to get more benefits from your internship, it would be reasonable to choose at least three months program. Long-time internships have several advantages. First of all, you will be able to learn more, as your employer will see you as a team member, not just a random passer-by. Therefore you will be entrusted with more difficult and important tasks. Another significant thing is that those who intern for longer time get more opportunities to be offered a full-time contract.

Myth 1: It’s too expensive

If you are looking for an affordable study abroad option –congrats, you have just found it. It’s not only relatively low tuition fees, but also low living costs. For instance, let’s see what you can get for 10$ in capital of China:

A nice meal for two persons

5 mojitos

“Students explore non-credit study-abroad options in China”claims the headline of the article published on University World News. The article highlights the fact that the popularity of China as a study-abroad destination is increasing with each year. More and more American students are looking into the opportunity of unique experience of studying in China.

Indeed, China has come to rank not only fifth most popular country overall but also the most popular study-abroad destination outside Western Europe for students since 2007.

The article underlines that students come to China not only for credits, but also for non-credit programs. Since China’s economy is booming, work and study experience from this country is becoming extremely attractive for American and European students. Developing the trend, Chinese schools and universities are offering wide range of credit and non-credit programs for young foreigners to enroll.

“There is a lot of room for further engagement between the US higher education sector and China.”

Study tours, non-degree university programs, private tutoring, internships and summer programs. Variety of opportunities is opening for everybody who is eager to explore charm of Chinese culture, improve their Chinese or start their way to mastering the language. And Go Abroad China is ready to support you on your way to this amazing experience. There are a lot of difficulties you have to face during a study-abroad program, and we are eager to solve them for you. Providing all the necessary conditions, such as accommodation, university placement, service package and 24/7 on site support, Go Abroad China makes your studying in China easy and enjoyable.

Chinese New Year, just like Western New Year, is very rich in traditions and rituals. People are starting to prepare for the holiday a month beforehand, buying gifts, food and new clothes.

It’s amazing how well respected all the traditions and rituals of the New Year’s celebration are – the holiday perhaps is the most important thing in the life of the whole country. Even the food served on the table during these days (Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days) has a special meaning. Traditional dumplings «jiaozi» represent the wish for happiness for everybody who tastes them. These dumplings mean wealth and prosperity in the New Year. Their shape is similar to ancient Chinese coins. In some provinces of China it’s a custom to put a coin in one of the jiaozi. And the one who will get it will be a prosperous man. Prawns bring health and happiness, dried oysters – success, raw fish salad – luck, and seaweed, – prosperity. In general, the choice of food during the days of celebration is extremely plentiful.

The New Year comes at midnight. The sky is lit with fireworks welcoming the New Year. People open all the doors and windows to let it in.

There is an old superstition, which does not allow eating meat on the first day of the New Year. It is believed that such food can avert human happiness for the whole year. Also, it is believed that you are going to spend the whole year the way you celebrate it. So people are trying to bring each other nothing but joy, no dissatisfaction and resentment.

China is strengthening it’s positions among the most popular destination for foreign students. According to the Ministry of education of People’s Republic of China, in 2012 almost 300,000 international students from 175 countries studied across China. So we believe that programs offered by Chinese universities deserve a closer look.

There is a department of Intensive Chinese Studies for international students in each university. Language programs are about the same in all the universities, and a full course is 1-2 years. There are no language level requirements for the admission and there are groups designed for any level. After mastering the Chinese language sufficiently, foreign students have a choice to continue their studies at the university and get a degree or to complete their studies in China with Chinese Language Proficiency Level (HSK) certificate.

If you consider studying in China, the choice of the university will depend on your goals. For instance, if you are looking for language training and cultural insight, a university with a good Chinese language curriculum and cultural electives is what you need. But whatever your goal is, domestic and international reputation is to be considered. According to Chinese Alumni Association, 10 Chinese universities are as follows:

1. Peking University
2. Tsinghua University
3. Fudan University
4. Zhejiang University
5. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
6. Nanjing University
7. Sun Yat-sen University
8. Jilin University
9. Wuhan University
10.  University of S&T of China

Studying in one of these universities can become a key to amazing opportunities for your future career. If you consider such an option, the question is how to realize your study in China project. Go Abroad China will support you on every step from admission to your formal placement here. Furthermore we will make all the necessary arrangements for you, providing you with accommodation, pre-departure information and 24/7 on site support. You can learn more about our University Mandarin Program at  www.­goabroadchina.­org/­programs/­mandarin-­program.

To crown it all, it is to be mentioned that most experts agree that following the growth and global expansion of Chinese economy, Chinese universities’ position in the world rankings is rising each year and tend to displace American Universities that have been heading the top universities lists for many years.

Second is the life cost. You might know that same things can have different price. That will depend on your bargaining skills. Of course you don’t need to bargain in the supermarket, but in the markets and even small shops it is more than acceptable. At first, it seems unusual, but once you try you can feel the excitement of the process that you barely have a chance to experience in your country. In our experience, after some practice some foreigners can do much better at bargaining than local people. That’s why Go Abroad China shopping tours is one of the favorite weekend activities among our participants.

Another concern is food. Chinese cuisine dishes’ variety is unimaginable. In most restaurants you will be provided with an English version of the menu. If you are lucky enough to get to a place that doesn’t provide it, there will always be at least pictures of the dishes offered. But for those who are not ready for experiments western food restaurants are always there.

Safety is another important issue. Nobody can guaranty that nothing ever can happen to you, but here you can feel safe walking the streets alone at night.

But jokes apart everything’s possible, so it’s better to be careful with money, documents and cell phones, especially in the busy streets of Chinese megalopolises. These precautions are important not only for foreigners, but for Chinese people also.

You better get ready for lots of attention. Chinese people are extremely friendly and love to communicate with foreigners. Sometimes you can even be asked to make a picture together. Everyday you will be reminded that you are very handsome/beautiful and your Chinese is amazing (even if you can only say “Hello” in Chinese). Speaking about “Hello”， you will be hearing it all the time from random passers by. That doesn’t mean that they want anything from you, just try to show their respect to a “foreign friend”, so that would be nice just to hello them back.

There are a lot of things that you might like and the same amount of things that can surprise or even shock you. But Go Abroad China staff will be here for you to make sure that your Internship, Study or Volunteer Program will become an unforgettable experience and will broaden your outlook.