Scholarships in China
Ohidul Alam
The Peoples Republic of China is an industrialised nation with a fast growing economy. Similarly, China is developing in terms of education and technology, investing huge money in teaching and research. Currently, there are about 900 national ranking universities in China.
To attract foreigners and to develop research, the Chinese government is giving a great number of scholarships every year. Thus, around 50,000 to 100,000 international students get scholarships to study in China. There are several types of scholarships provided, such as the central governments Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC), CAS-TWAS President PhD Fellowship, Marine Science Scholarship, MOFCOM Scholarship, The Great Wall Scholarship, and WMO Scholarship, as well as municipal scholarships, provincial scholarships and university scholarships, while autonomous regions provide their own scholarships and special administrations such as Hong Kong and Taiwan have their own scholarships, including HKPFS and TIGP respectively.
Universities also provide undergraduate research grants, and some give postgraduate research funds. But almost all universities have Chinese medium programmes, with only a few offering limited programmes in English. Lately, many universities, like the Communication University of China in Beijing, are starting programmes taught in English. Moreover, a large number of students from Europe and the United States study in China for six months to a year in exchange programmes every year.
China has job opportunities for both Chinese and foreign students. During their studies, all Chinese students do part-time jobs or internships. Besides, they can apply for jobs during the last year of their degree and join work after graduation. Similarly, foreigners can get jobs in Chinese companies, but they need to learn Chinese. However, foreigners can work as English tutors in schools, colleges or coaching centres part-time or full-time with good salary. There are also tuition opportunities and most teachers pay their research students, based on their work.
In recent times, China has been attracting people from all over the world due to its rapid economic growth, technological development, advance in education research, cheap living cost and security.
Chinese people are obedient to their seniors, such as parents and teachers. Similarly, they strictly follow government rules and regulations. They are hard-working, and love and respect their own duties and works. They are helpful and friendly, and they behave with foreigners gently and cordially. Due to strict laws and equal implementation, crimes are rare. Therefore, it is safe to move around freely, even late at night, and leave your things unlocked, without fear of stealing.
But language can be a big problem in China, as majority of people cant speak English. However, the government is giving emphasis on English, so the new generation is good in English. On the other hand, the government is also investing huge sums for teaching Chinese language to foreigners and courses are easily available in major cities or online.
China is enriched with natural beauty throughout the whole country, specially with mountains, lakes, parks, rivers and wetlands etc. The top 10 tourist attractions in China are the Great Wall (Beijing), Terracotta Army (Xian), Forbidden City (Beijing), Li River Watery Wonder (Guilin), Yellow Mountains (Anhui), Giant Pandas (Chengdu), Potala Palace in Lhasa (Tibet), The Bund (Shanghai), Victoria Harbour (Hong Kong), and West Lake (Hangzhou).
The writer is studying Masters of Environmental Engineering in UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, Shanghai.
