The ramified network of partner universities that GROUP T has built up in China over the past 16 years has in the meantime already led to various spin-offs. To name just a few: the Joint Engineering Programs, in which Chinese students can finish their training at GROUP T after one or two years at their home university; the Hongzhi Scholarships for talented but less affluent Chinese students; the China – GROUP T Academic Alumni Association; the International Class at the Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) that started up this academic year; the doctorate and honorary doctorate of GROUP T's president Johan De Graeve at the Beijing Normal University and the BJTU, respectively; the first China-Flanders Job Fair for Chinese students at GROUP T, and so on. This list must also certainly include the China Journey – the annual study trip of third-year Engineering bachelor students. Over the past 12 years, about 2,000 engineering students and professors have had the opportunity of a two-week immersion in what is generally accepted to be the land and the economy of the future.
Learning experience par excellence
The China Journey has been considered the greatest and best learning experience at GROUP T for years already. The concept was a success from the very outset, this much has not changed fundamentally over the years. Splitting up into travel groups according to discipline, a separate travel itinerary for each group, visiting cities where GROUP T has one or more partner universities, involving Chinese students in the activities as much as possible, visiting companies, being introduced to the great cultural and historical highlights but also to the everyday life of the common Chinese Joe, to the local gastronomy and nature and mixed in with it a good dose of R & R in which the participants not only get to know the Chinese students but also each other. The ties of friendship forged during the
China Journey are almost legendary
All travel groups have started their journey in Shanghai, the most Western city of China, and this year was no exception. Not only the largest metropolis but also the financial heart of China and the largest port in the world. The futuristic Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train, which travels at 400 kph brought everybody from the airport to the city in a matter of minutes. A couple of hours after arrival, every student was already parading on the Bund promenade with a view of the mighty Pudong skyline on the other side of the river. The next morning, there was a visit to Pudong scheduled with the Financial Tower (492 m) as the highlight. But also old Shanghai with its cluttered alleyways, typical temples and the enchanting gardens from the Ming Dynasty were not left out.
After Shanghai, the groups split up. The Chemistry and Biochemistry engineering students went to charming Hangzhou first and then to imperial Xi'an. The Electronics engineering students first trained to the picturesque Suzhou and then to Hangzhou. The Electromechanical engineering students, in turn, split up into two groups, one flying to the interior to Chengdu and the other to Chongqing.
Appointment in Beijing
Highlights in Hangzhou were the famous West Lake, the century-old Buddhist temple complex of LingYin, the plantations of China's best tea (the green Longjing) and, last but not least, the colorful KTV (karaoke) evening with the Chinese students.
In Suzhou (the Venice of China), Flemish and Chinese students made dumplings together and played football. The visit to Xi'an of course included the Terracotta army of the first Chinese emperor (the eighth wonder of the world), but also the old town centre with the Muslim quarter and the famous DeFaChang dumpling restaurant. A cycling trip on the city wall concluded this visit. The Electromechanics students who, as explained above, were visiting Chengdu for the first time were impressed by the cordial reception at the UESTC partner university. Also the giant panda nursery visit is etched in memory. The Electromechanics students in Chongqing not only visited the old Chinese town Ciqihou, but also ventured out on a few cruises on the Danning and the Yangtze rivers.
After a week, all groups met in Beijing, where they were hosted by BJTU and the University of Science and Technology. The Forbidden City, the Lama Temple and the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, Tienan'men Square, the Great Wall, the Olympic stadiums, Peking duck in the Quan JuDe restaurant, none of the classics were missing from the program. In Beijing, furthermore, the Chemists and Biochemists could fraternize with the Chinese students of the International Class of GROUP T at BJTU. They were visited there by GROUP T president Johan De Graeve.
High-quality company visits
The company visits, for the longest time the weak point of the China Journey, of the 12th edition were effectively solid and this was true for both the Chinese and the Western companies. The Chemistry and Biochemistry engineering students were received by Xi'an Janssen, one of the first joint ventures in China, founded in 1985 by Dr. Paul Janssen from the company by the same name Janssen Pharmaceutica. His name is still honored in Xi'an as the savior of the Terracotta Army. In Baoding, south of Beijing, the Chemistry and Biochemistry engineering students were guests for one day of Jingli Solar, one of the largest manufacturers of solar cells and panels in the world. In the meantime, the company has become widely known as the main sponsor for the previous Football World Cup in South Africa.
The Electronics engineering students visited the Siemens Manufacturing and Engineering Center in Shanghai and then Technicolor and Rigol Electronics in Beijing. Finally, the Electromechanics engineering students went to the immense Baosteel in Shanghai, Atlas Copco in Wuxi and TianJin Xin He Shipbuilding Heavy Industry where the dredging ships of Jan De Nul are built.
Confucius Institute at GROUP T
If you are on a two-and-a-half week trip through China for the first time there is no getting around the culture shock. This is common knowledge. Much of what we have learned about China at home, at school or through the media, many of the ideas and images we have formed of it, once there, are proved incorrect because they are too one sided, too prejudiced or quite commonly entirely wrong. Stereotyping, especially at the start of the journey, stands in the way of an accurate perception. However, some preparation before leaving can remedy this. This is precisely the important contribution of the Confucius Institute at GROUP T for the welfare of the project. In the weeks leading up to departure, the institute organized a series of four sessions, a Taste of China, in which the future travelers to China were given an introduction in the Chinese language, culture, gastronomy, local (eating) habits and traditions. No academic discourse but practical and handy tips to be able to manage on your own as a newcomer in China. The most useful advice was probably this: open your mind – if possible empty it – so that you can perceive everything that comes at you in a detached and open-minded way. An open mind is ready to receive everything.
Yves Persoons
