Tiffany’s Postcard from Beijing

To Tiffany, Beijing was a city that she never thought she would call home. However, after six months of not only studying, but working there, it has become a city that holds a place forever in her heart.  

In this Postcard, Tiffany – one of our New Colombo Plan Scholars for 2025 – reflects on her experience adapting to cultural norms in a Chinese university and workplace – and offers some helpful tips for students hoping to study abroad.  

“If you’re feeling a bit stuck or like you’ve reached your max here… you haven’t. You just need a change of place.”

– Tiffany

The highlights of her time studying at Peking University centered around experiencing campus culture that was “so China”. From professors buying students coffee for early morning classes to weekly campus wide runs around the track to spontaneous Friday night picnics in the dorm courtyard, these moments reflected the warmth and close-knit energy of university life in Beijing. One of the highlights of her experience was stumbling upon a group of students singing karaoke at 1am – complete with their own instruments for background music – and promptly joining in. Beyond campus, an expected highlight for Tiffany was biking through Beijing’s tree-lined streets and historic hutongs. In fact, her recommendation for anyone that enjoys biking was three words: “Go to Beijing”  

Working in China was a unique experience as well. Tiffany interned at the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, assisting with policy proposals as well as the Chamber’s annual “Ball on the Wall”. Her two most important lessons were learning to deal with “China speed” and ambiguity. “China speed”, as Tiffany describes it, is the sheer efficiency at which organizations in China work – often, contracts are signed and returned in a matter of hours, and you’re expected to respond as fast as possible. The other was learning to work with ambiguity, especially as the local culture still has a heavy reliance on verbal contracts and “guanxi” (your network, either professional or personal – and sometimes both).  

Beyond academics and work, Tiffany’s time in China reshaped her understanding of herself and what it means to be successful. According to Tiffany, “When you go on exchange, you experience different cultures and different ways of doing things. It seriously just opens your mind to the fact that there’s such a massive world out there.”. She reflected that it was easy to feel as if Melbourne – where she had grown up and has now returned to – was her whole world, and not being able to fully visualize what life would look like outside of Australia. For her, this experience reshaped how she thought about success and self-worth, because after all, in her own words, “there’s not just one way to live”.  

Tiffany’s Tips:  

1. Utilize the resources available to you to the fullest! Visit Course Planning to plan out your degree for exchange and use the list of previously approved subjects as a guideline for subject research.  
2. Learn at least some basic terms of the local language. Without any understanding of the basic terms, it is a lot harder to navigate living in a foreign country. You could also miss out on opportunities for connections & experiences!  
3. Do your research on the apps that they use and download them before you leave Australia. For example, KaokaoTalk in Korea, and Alipay and WeChat for China.  
4. Be open-minded and accepting of cultural norms! For example, what seems like “yelling” is a normal form of communication in China. 

Finally, to anyone else considering going on exchange in Beijing: 北京欢迎你, 有梦想谁都了不起 (Beijing welcomes you, with a dream anyone can be great).

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