Seeing China with my own eyes: My summer well spent

• By: Renier Vermeulen, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
• Summer Experience: Doing Business in Changing China – 2024 Summer School (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University's International Business School Suzhou, School of Humanities and Social Sciences) and Chinese Language Summer School (XJTLU's School of Languages)
• Nationality: Dutch

 My interest in Chinese culture started when I watched Red Cliff (赤壁, Chìbì), and reading the philosophers, such as Confucius, Laozi and Han Feizi. This, the history and the culture, combined with the recent advancements of the Chinese new-energy vehicle industry made me want to see and experience the country for myself.

Receiving my certificate from IBSS. I’m second from the right

My major is Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences, and I started looking online for a summer internship in construction or at a car company, but I found the XJTLU summer schools, and decided that spending my summer at a university in Suzhou would be very educational, so I applied for both the Doing Business in Changing China course and the Chinese Language Summer School, and booked my plane tickets.

The Chinese people say: “Heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below” (上有天堂，下有苏杭, shàng yǒu tiāntáng, xià yǒu sū háng), and I think this is true. Suzhou is a very calm, peaceful and comfortable place to stay in; the Suzhou Industrial Park area where the university and the dorms are located is a verdant and quiet environment, which I really liked. Everything is close by, taking the bus or a Didi is very practical, and paying with WeChat for everything makes life super easy. Riding in a BYD, using a NIO battery swap station or visiting a Huawei Aito showroom makes you feel like you’re living in the future. Also, the food in Suzhou is not too spicy, which is nice for someone coming from the Netherlands.

Doing Business in Changing China. Photo courtesy of XJTLU

I was very excited to start the first day of the course at XJTLU, to start learning about China and to meet new fellow students and teachers from very diverse backgrounds. The teachers are all highly educated and knowledgeable, which made the lectures extremely interesting, and often a lively debate would form. The field trips to local companies made me see with my own eyes the high-tech Chinese industrial base that supplies the world. Before coming to China, I knew a couple of characters and not much more, but my Chinese language skills were greatly improved during my six weeks in Suzhou, and it gave me a very solid foundation, and I promised my Chinese teacher that I would reach HSK 6 fluency before the next time I visit China. I got to know a lot of interesting people, and I learned a lot!

Closing ceremony with my Chinese teacher, Ruyi Zhang (centre)

I would advise anyone with an interest in China, or anyone who simply is looking for a summer course in another country to do a summer school at XJTLU. Before coming to China myself, I did a lot of research (watching Chinese TV), and it’s extremely fun to recognise something in a store that I had seen in an advertisement a couple of months before. My main goal for coming to China was simply to better understand China and the Chinese people, and I feel like I really accomplished this goal.

I want to thank the amazing staff at XJTLU for their great care, and I especially want to thank Ruyi Zhang for the very fun Chinese lessons! I am looking forward to visiting Suzhou and seeing everyone again!

上有天堂，下有西浦

XJTLU Foundation Building in beautiful light