Sichuan University UIP - University Immersion Program

In July of this year,  I will be teaching at the Sichuan University – University Immersion Program for the 4^th time.  Going to China for a teaching opportunity is a lot of fun if you are prepared. In the Chinese Culture, it is not proper to offer information that may put your country or your university in a bad light.  This has resulted in some invited professors not having a good experience because they came unprepared.  The purpose of this blog is to prepare academic visitors and also suggestion questions you may want to specifically ask should you be visiting any university in China.

The University: Sichuan University has two campuses within the city of Chengdu and a new campus outside the city.  This is very common in China as the cities have expanded and the universities don’t have room to expand. The new campus, Jiang’an, is where classes are held for freshman and sophomores.  There is free bus service from the city campuses to the new campus.  If you are teaching on the new campus, you may be there all day.  This is an example of something you can plan for if you know in advance. The two city campuses are the Huaxi Campus – the Health Sciences Campus, and the WangJiang Campus – Main Campus.  These campuses are show cases of beautiful old buildings and gardens.  May people walk on the campuses during the day even painting the scenery or photographing the water lilies. 


The Teaching: The classes are taught in 2 hour blocks (actually 2 X 50 minutes). During UIP, teachers have two class assignments in one day.  If you are teaching 1 class, you will teach a morning block and an afternoon block either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday.  There are no classes taught during lunch, noon to 2 pm.  You will be teaching either 8–10 or 10 – noon and then 2-4 pm or 4-6 pm.  If you are teaching 2 classes, you will teach one class on Monday and Wednesday and the Second on Tuesday and Thursday.  The two classes will run concurrently.   The students are undergraduates.  While all Chinese high school students take English, they often have more book knowledge than actual experience listening to an English speaker.  Remind yourself to speak slowly and clearly. Avoid colloquial phrases and slang.

The Classrooms:  Each classroom has a podium/desk with a built in computer system and projector. The classrooms are not connected to wifi.  Plan on taking your electronic lecture materials on a flash drive, including any videos you plan to show. In addition, not all computers have the current windows and office programs so saving your files in compatability mode is helpful.  Each building has an office with computer help and I’ve never had a problem getting my powerpoints up on the screen. The IT office can also provide you with pointers, microphones and other supplies as needed.  Often students will come up after class with their own flash drive to copy the lecture.  All Chinese are taught paper conservation so the students rarely print out lectures.

Classrooms are not air conditioned. In, fact most of China is not air conditioned.  Classrooms have multiple fans with one usually directed at the teacher.  I bought a small fan that plugs into a USB outlet.  This way I can have the fan right on the desk close to my face.  I also suggest that soon after getting to China you buy a good hand fan and possibly a parasol.  Chengdu will be in the 90 F range during July.  Keep this in mind when planning your clothing for teaching.  You are not required to dress up or wear a suit.  Think light, breathable, easily washed out clothing and very comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking in China.

Some university buildings have western toilets and some do not. Generally there is one stall in the first floor restroom.  Often it is marked handicapped. If you have any problem, finding a suitable toilet ask your assistant for help.

Your Assistant:  The University will assign a graduate student to help you.  This person can pick you up at the airport, help get you settled at the hotel,  help you find the classroom, take roll in your class, administer tests, get copies made, show you how to use the subway and taxis, help you get paid, and act as your translator.  The student will contact you by email long before you arrive. Your assistant can help you with any questions you have. Remember that it might not occur to a student to tell you that there isn’t any air conditioning in the classrooms because they have never known any different.  So be specific with your questions.  You may also want to bring a gift for your assistant as a thank you to present at the end of the teaching.

The Hotel: The University usually contracts with several nice hotels close to the two in-town campuses.  In China, it is common for a hotel to advertise as international if there are western toilets in the rooms. Hotels will differ on whether they offer western beds (softer) or a western breakfast.  Most hotel rooms will have an electric kettle for boiling water and tea is typically available however coffee may not be available.  I usually bring some high quality instant along with sugar and creamer packets.  Instant coffee is available at many stores in China. Even in packets that say 1,2,3 to show they have sugar and cream included.  Starbucks is also popular in China.   You should plan on walking from your hotel to your classroom (or the shuttle bus stop). The campuses are sprawling so it may be a 15-20 minute walk.

Mountains surround Chengdu however they are often not visible.

The Food:  Generally, the breakfast will be provided by the hotel.  Chinese often eat the same foods for all meals. Since each year the University has chosen different hotels, I cannot tell you what to expect. Fresh fruits and juices are popular as are salad and steamed vegetables. Muffins and pastries are sometimes available. 

You will receive a card from the University to use at the cafeteria. This is a traditional cafeteria not a food court as is found on most American Universities.  The cafeteria is available at lunch and dinner time. The cafeteria meals are at set times, noon for lunch and 6 pm for dinner.  The card is also good at a small store below the cafeteria on the Wangjiang Campus. I don’t know if the new campus or the Huaxi campus have a store that accepts the card.  However both campuses do have small stores.

You will be on your own for dinner.  Chengdu is a city of 14 million.  There are plenty of westerners living in Chengdu. You will be able to find a good variety of western food options should you desire some comfort food.  Note that China does not raise cows and beef is limited.  Only order a hamburger or steak from a long established and higher end restaurant.  A good question to ask local expats if you have your heart set on a hamburger.  Another caution, all Chinese food is cooked. Therefore food handling techniques to keep salad ingredients free of contamination have to be taught.  Only order non-cooked food at a well established restaurant. There are many fantastic Chinese restaurants near the campuses. The nicer restaurants (those in a building) usually have picture menus to help you order your meal.  Food is served family style.

Note that American-Chinese Food and REAL Chinese food are not the same. I can’t even eat American-Chinese food anymore.  I hunt down the real Chinese restaurants everywhere I go.   There are many small noodle shops and cafes near the campus. These are called “Fly” restaurants (as in eat on the fly).  My advice, go to the busiest ones.  Most Chinese don’t cook at home because it is so cheap to eat out.  You will not find many English speakers at Chinese restaurants however you can communicate by pointing.   

Special Events and Activities

On the Sunday before classes start. There will be a welcome presentation, tour of the three campuses and reception.  Ask your assistant about the timing for this usually it goes all afternoon and evening.

On the Saturday between teaching weeks, the University provides an all day program that includes going to the Giant Panda Research Base, a nice banquet lunch and visiting one of the pedestrian shopping streets. The Panda Base is outside the city and is a well maintained zoo/reserve for panda viewing and breeding research. I always enjoy seeing the pandas.  Be prepared for lots of walking.  It’s a good time to have a sun hat or parasol.  The shopping streets feature many local crafts, traditional candy making, souvenirs, restaurants and bars. I’ll be buying some of my favorites.  Ding Ding Tang (Taffy), Hua Sheng tang (peanut brittle) as well as brittle made with white or black sesame seeds.  The Shopping street will also feature both high end and local tea for purchase and tasting.

Communication

Plan in advance how you will be communicating with your assistant and other teachers you meet.  I have had off and on luck using an American phone with an international dialing plan.  I suggest you download WeChat (Wei Xing).  This is a very popular program similar to WhatsAp or Facebook messenger. Remember you will not have Facebook in China and you may or may not have access to google or gmail services without a VPN.  All Chinese phones use sim cards. If you have a sim card compatible phone you can have your assistant get you a card for local dialing.  The cards are like a prepaid temporary phone in the US.

If you check the web you will find many VPN services available for short term purchase.  I get one to cover my laptop and phone while in China just to make it easier for me to connect with home.  Most restaurants and bars will have free wifi although often the service is slow in the evening when everyone is on their phone.

Cash and Credit

China has a unique combination of old school and high tech monetary practices.  It is fundamentally a cash society. There are very few locations that take Visa or Mastercard. The China debit/credit card, Union Pay, uses the same computer system as the Discover Card.  If you print out the instructions from Discover Card in Chinese, some merchants will make the effort to charge your purchase.  Most young people in China use the WeChat money AP to pay for purchases.  Meaning they have skipped over checks and debit cards and gone straight from cash to electronic payments.  As a visitor you will primarily use cash so be prepared to make an exchange at the airport or any of the major banks.  You will receive your payment at the end of the first teaching week in US dollars.  Also be prepared that the school is required by the government to withhold taxes. If your country has a tax treaty with China, bring the documentation with you.

I am planning a second post about things I plan to do while in Chengdu.  Until then feel freee to ask questions.