The Department for Innovation and Universities (DIUS) has recently given its okay for a China 2008 Easter experience, a three-week trip for 200 students at English universities to Beijing this coming Easter. As of now, there is no information available on the DIUS website nor at the Centre for Chinese Studies (CCS) of Manchester University. But a Facebook group has been setup, which already counts 153 members. The interest is huge and the competition for the just 200 places will be fierce. (Last year, there were about 1200 applications for 200 places.)
The following information is available at the moment:
“There will be a three week trip to China for 200 students at English Universities or FE Colleges. The Programme is fully paid for by the DIUS. You only have to pay for your flight, visa and travel insurance.
The start date will be Monday 17th March 2008.
More detail and an on-line application form will be available by 15th December. The closing date for applications will be Friday 25th January 2008.”
(Source: China Facebook group. See below.)
The 2007 summer programme had two cohorts of 100 persons each. This time around, they will not be split into two. There are further specifications as to who can apply for this programme:
“If you applied last year but were not successful, you are perfectly welcome to apply again this year! However, if you went last year – sorry – you won’t be eligible this time around.
You have to be a FULL TIME, UNDERGRADUATE at and ENGLISH university or FE college. It does’nt matter what course your taking or whether you speak any Chinese.
There are not CURRENTLY any plans to run a programme in summer 2008.”
So unfortunately I cannot apply again. But, I think it is fair to give others the chance to seize this unique opportunity as well.
It seems to me that after the de-briefing session at the DIUS earlier this year (see post below) the 2007 programme received such an amount of positive feedback so that the department decided to offer another 200 students the chance to get a taste of what China is like.
I am not sure why, at the moment, there are no plans for a 2008 summer programme. The reason might be that this conflicts with the Olympic Games in Beijing, which run from August 8 – 24, 2008.
I encourage anyone who is interested in getting to know China first hand, rather than reading about it in books or in newspapers, to apply for this programme. (Although I strongly recommend the book of the Last Governor of Hong, Chris Patten: East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia)
Watch this space, as I will post updates on this as soon as more information becomes available.
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For anyone interested in the China 2008 Easter experience, join the Facebook group “Those Interested in an Easter China Experience” (just type it into the search on Facebook.)
To get a sense of what the 2007 summer school was like, visit the CCS site at Manchester University:
http://www.ccs.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/summer-school/
