Summer Sojourn

A distinctive feature of the China Studies course is the summer sojourn programme in which all students have to spend one month at Tsinghua University, Beijing to receive intensive training in Putonghua during the summer at the end of the second year. Since the students have taken the six-unit subject Elementary & Intermediate Putonghua during the second year, the sojourn acts as an "immersion" programme in Putonghua training. Students will undertake Putonghua training for three hours per day, five days per week.

Another part of the summer sojourn programme consists of seminars on topics relating to contemporary issues in China, which include political, economic, sociological, historical and geographical perspectives. A third part of the programme is composed of visits to places of particular interest to this course. It is felt that students should be given some field experience in China by visiting factories, farms, historical sites, government offices, etc. Moreover, students also require conducting mini-social survey in Beijing to gain first hand understanding of the Capital City of China.