Barnaul Student Recounts Year in China: Prices, Food, and Russian Relations

Nikita Kazakov is a student from Barnaul, Siberia. He dreamed of going to study in China on an exchange since enrolling at Altai State University. And his dream came true: Nikita passed a tough selection process and went to Hangzhou, one of the country«s largest megacities. There he lived for a whole year, immersed himself in the local environment, and even made plans to move after graduation.

He shared his impressions of the local people, whether he managed to make friends, prices in China, and what might surprise Russians on a trip with NGS22.RU.

Simply Fascinated by Calligraphy

Nikita«s love for Chinese culture began back in school. Then, while participating in history olympiads, he came across an interesting master class from two Altai State University students who promised to show the basics of Chinese calligraphy. Drawing characters with a pen, the guy seriously thought about trying something completely new, such as learning Chinese.

Calligraphy is one of the main artistic activities in China, and from very ancient times. Previously, as locals believed, a noble man was obliged not only to be able to compose poetry beautifully, write texts well, and govern the country competently if, for example, he was an official, but also to practice calligraphy, to master this art. To this day, it is one of my few hobbies directly related to China.

After school, he enrolled in foreign regional studies at Altai State University, but from the first year, he knew that he would have the opportunity to go study on an exchange. The selection procedure for this program did not cause Nikita any particular difficulties, although, to go to China, he had to prove that he was worthy through his grades, attitude to studies, and activity.

One of the main differences in the education systems, according to him, is the timelines. If a bachelor«s degree in China, like ours, lasts four years, then a master»s degree is a full three years. Moreover, studies take place throughout the day, so combining it with work is not possible: students get up at 8 a.m. and spend the whole day studying until evening.

For the Chinese, a strict admission system is very characteristic. There is very fierce competition, so after the 11th grade, they take an analogue of our Unified State Exam and based on its results, they enter universities. There are special quotas for provinces: if it doesn«t work out, then either you try to enter another university here, or you go to another province — it»s not so fundamental there. In Russia, however, we have a slightly different policy aimed at keeping guys in the supporting universities of the country«s regions.

Russians Are a Warrior Nation

One of the main features of the Chinese, as Nikita clarifies, is their closed-off nature. Mostly, students go around in groups, so most often it«s quite difficult to make friends with them.

The only thing that can somehow attract them to foreigners is common interests or the learning process. I made two good friends. One of them is an ethnic Chinese who enrolled in IT technologies. Moreover, we met completely by chance: he was conducting a social survey, and I helped him with it, we added each other on WeChat — the Chinese analogue of VKontakte, and so we started chatting. We went out to eat together several times — for the Chinese, this is a very important tradition. The second friend became an ethnic Uighur, with him we crossed paths on campus territory, he asked for help, and a conversation started.

In China, Nikita had several more surprising acquaintances. For example, he met Chinese female teachers who back in the USSR also studied on an exchange in Khabarovsk. Therefore, as soon as the Barnaul student introduced himself, they decided to ask how things are in Russia now, and even spoke a bit with him in Russian.

Nikita also managed to visit several Chinese villages: on one of the trips, a teacher invited him to celebrate the Spring Festival together. There, the Russian communicated with the older generation and realized that they have special respect for Russians, since they still remember the help of the Soviet Union, which it provided to China after the formation of the People«s Republic of China in 1949.

In China, there is a special term for the Russian people — zhan-dou min-zu, which means that we are a very warrior-like nation. This is clearly influenced by our external features, constant seriousness, but in general, the attitude towards foreigners in China is positive — there are no manifestations of any discrimination.

Not Plastic Rice

In total, Nikita visited about ten cities. Special impressions, of course, were left by Beijing, where he managed to stay for three whole days, as well as Shanghai, which in its image reminded him of New York.

I was in different provinces, and also in Nanjing, which was considered the capital of China back in the twenties of the twentieth century. Large cities differ greatly from each other both in cultural features and linguistically. You move from Hangzhou to Shanghai, and immediately the dialect changes. The older generation has its own dialect too. In China, there are many spaces where digital technologies are used: 3D, artificial intelligence, so museums there — are something definitely worth visiting.

The calling card of the PRC is a developed transport system. So, the first thing that surprised Nikita was the metro. In Hangzhou alone, there were about 10 lines, although construction began only in 2013. By the way, traveling by metro is advantageous, ground transport is less convenient than in the same Barnaul, as Nikita specified.

In Barnaul, you get on and ride without transfers, choose a convenient, albeit long, route. There, there are no state companies, but private operators are responsible for transportation in specific districts, so, for example, to get from the university campus to the city center, I would have needed to make two transfers.

Nikita approached expenses pragmatically, so a year of life in China cost him 350–400 thousand rubles (approximately $3,500–4,000 at current rates) — this includes free accommodation in the dormitory and paid flight expenses.

I would say that prices there are not much different from Russian ones. There are products, for example fruits, vegetables, that cost much more than in Russia, but nevertheless, all this is compensated by quality. And actually, everything is quite tasty. That is, this tall tale that was circulating among us about five years ago, that in China there is plastic rice, well, it doesn«t correspond to reality at all. There is very strict food control. As for finances, some guys spent half a million in six months, but if you live more economically, then the same 500 thousand will be quite an acceptable amount for a year of life. Per month, with my usual measured pace, it came out to 35 thousand rubles (approximately $350 at current rates), which went on visiting some cultural places, museums, food.

Tried «Phoenix Claws»

During his stay in China, Nikita really missed Russian cuisine, but he consciously decided not to limit himself to familiar food and to try everything that might surprise in China.

Spicy dishes, which are so loved in the Celestial Empire, are one of the most difficult aspects of adaptation for foreigners, no matter how long you live there.

If the menu says that the dish is not spicy, it will still be spicy. Many foreigners cannot get used to their food, so they switch to American fast food and eat mainly only that, — explains Nikita.

Our student was lucky: he had been used to spicy food since childhood, which allowed him to try dishes that other tourists usually don«t dare to.

What I liked most were Chinese dumplings jiaozi. It«s something like our dumplings. Most often the filling is pork, sometimes with corn. It»s a must-have, they are in any chifanka, that is, a cafe, — recalls Nikita.

The most unusual dish he tried was «phoenix claws»:

Yes, the name is quite poetic, sounds beautiful, but in reality, it«s chicken feet fried in batter. In China, such offal is treated very calmly. By the way, boneless meat here is much cheaper than with bones. Fish in China is generally not cleaned — also served with bones.

Now Nikita is finishing his studies at Altai State University, but he is actively making plans to move to China in the future, to enter the same university where he spent a year, and then continue to settle in Hangzhou or Shanghai.