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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
CHINA BOUND
A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Revised
Anne F. Thurston with
Karen Turner-Gottschang and
Linda A. Reed for the
Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
American Council of Learned Societies
National Academy of Sciences
Social Science Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1994
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this publication was sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China (formerly the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China). It is a revised edition of China Bound: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC, published in 1987.
The Committee on Scholarly Communication with China (CSCC) is jointly sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Social Science Research Council.
Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and China in 1979, the CSCC has developed programs with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the State Education Commission, in addition to those with the China Association for Science and Technology, with whom the CSCC began exchanges in 1972. Current activities include a program for American graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to carry out long-term study or research in affiliation with Chinese universities and research institutes; a fellowship program for Chinese scholars to conduct research in the United States; and field development and training programs in archaeology, economics, international relations, law, library science, and sociology.
This publication was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The accuracy of the information presented and the views expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors and not the sponsoring organizations.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thurston, Anne F.
China bound : a guide to academic life and work in the PRC / revised by Anne F. Thurston; with Karen Turner-Gottschang and Linda A. Reed.
p. cm.
"For the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-04932-6
1. Foreign study—China. 2. American students—China. 3. Teachers, Foreign—China. 4. China—Description and travel.
I. Turner-Gottschang, Karen. II. Reed, Linda A. III. Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China (U.S.) IV. Title.
LB2376.3.C6T48 1994
370.19'6—dc20———94-736
CIP
Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
The calligraphy appearing in the text was kindly prepared by Fu Shen, Curator of Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The cover photograph is by Bernard Van Leer.
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
CHINA BOUND
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank the following individuals for reading and commenting on this manuscript:
Mark Bender, Ohio State University
Mary Bullock, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Joan Carey, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
Keith Clemenger, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
Richard Connor, Texas A&M University
Deborah Davis, Yale University
James Feinerman, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
Robert Geyer, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
James Hargett, State University of New York at Albany
Alice Hogan, National Science Foundation
Mary Beth Kennedy, ICF Incorporated
Scott Kennedy, The Brookings Institution
Megan Klose, Committee on Scholarly Communication with China
Beryl Leach, The World Bank
John Olsen, University of Arizona
Leo Orleans, Library of Congress
Tony Reese, Yale-China Association
Scott Rozelle, Stanford University
David Shambaugh, University of London
Audrey Spiro, independent scholar
Karen Turner-Gottschang, Holy Cross College
Cameron Wake, University of New Hampshire
Andrew Walder, Harvard University
Haynie Wheeler, Yale-China Association
Meng Yang, Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Washington, D.C.
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
The author also wishes to thank Mary Ernst of the Council on International Exchange of Scholars and William Shine at the United States Information Agency for providing information and reports from Fulbright lecturers.
This publication was supported with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Preface
China Bound is a guidebook for American students, teachers, and researchers who plan to live and work in China. Its purpose is to help make the experience there as rich and rewarding as possible.
The book introduces some of the available research and teaching opportunities and study programs. It explains the structure of China's academic institutions and relates the experiences of other Americans who have worked within them. It discusses the range of opportunities and suggests relevant strategies for archival and field research and collaborative projects in scientific laboratories. It provides advice ranging from preparation for departure to daily life in China—from bringing and setting up a computer to handling a medical emergency and how to stay healthy and fit. China Bound will be most useful to those who are going for the first time, but "old China hands" should find much of practical value as well.
Americans' fascination with China is as old as the United States, and the "opening up" that began in 1979 has provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with the opportunity to experience China firsthand. Thousands of U.S. scholars, students, and teachers have resided in China, and their opportunity to learn about China from the inside has been unique. As many have returned to relate those experiences or publish their research results, our understanding of China has increased.
Harold Isaacs, writing between 1949 and 1979, when only a handful of Americans were able to visit, noted a curious ambivalence in the American fascination with China—admiration coupled with fear, the China of Marco Polo contradicted by the China of Genghis Khan, the world's oldest civilization ruled by emperors with a capacity for cru-
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
elty. "In the long history of our associations with China, these two sets of images rise and fall, move in and out of the center of people's minds over time, never wholly displacing each other, always coexisting, each ready to emerge at the fresh call of circumstance," he wrote.
The cycle of ambivalence that Isaacs describes has already been repeated in the years since the economic reforms of the 1980s encouraged more outsiders to live and work in China. The thrill of being able to live and work in China again was followed by horror over the Tiananmen Square tragedy of June 1989; the attraction we have for the Chinese people has been coupled with frustration over the Chinese bureaucracy; our excitement at the speed of China's economic development has been accompanied by distress over growing corruption; our hope for China's modernization has carried with it a deep concern that too much of the past is being destroyed.
Isaacs also discovered that those who liked China most were those who knew it best. And what Americans liked best, in addition to China's rich history and culture, were the Chinese people. This is true today as well. After a brief hiatus in the wake of Tiananmen, American researchers, students, and teachers have returned to China to live, work, and learn. Americans going today, like those who have gone before, are likely to find their work—whether teaching, studying, or conducting research—to be deeply satisfying—indeed, among the richest and most rewarding of their lives. Many will have made lifelong Chinese friends—colleagues and research collaborators, fellow students, fellow teachers, or students taught, or the person met by chance encounter on a train. They will have been witnesses to a remarkable period in China's own history.
China Bound was first published in 1981 shortly after academic exchanges were renewed; it was rewritten in 1987 by Linda Reed and Karen Turner-Gottschang. But China continues to change and, by 1992, many people who knew how valuable earlier editions of China Bound had been concluded that the time had come for another update. Kathlin Smith at the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China has guided the endeavor from its inception—securing funding, providing background materials, and supervising the preparation of the manuscript with unfailing good humor and efficiency. She has been assisted by three hardworking interns: Dan Ewing, from the Johns Hopkins University; S. Quinn Hanzel, from Georgetown University; and Richard Michael Victorio, also from Georgetown University. The book could not have been done without their contributions and assistance. My thanks to them all.
This newly revised edition reflects not only changes in China but also the increasingly diverse experiences of American students, teachers, and researchers who have lived there. Both the preface and the
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
section on research are completely new. In making these revisions, I have spoken to dozens of Americans who have lived in China as researchers, students, and teachers, and I have read numerous reports that researchers have written for the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China (CSCC) as well as reports from many professors in the Fulbright program. The CSCC's China Exchange News has provided a wealth of information. In December 1992, I visited China and met with researchers, teachers, and students. I also have conducted research in China and lived for five years in Beijing. And I drew on many personal accounts in making these revisions. Although most people are not thanked by name, I would like to express my appreciation to everyone with whom I have spoken and whose accounts I have read, while noting, with apologies, that there is little way to do them justice here. Each individual's experience in China is unique, and the picture that emerges is one of great diversity. This guidebook attempts to reflect that diversity. At the same time, it also attempts to distill from many different experiences a core of advice for anyone planning to study, teach, or conduct research in China. The people consulted for this revision shared their experiences with the hope that others could benefit from them.
ANNE F. THURSTON
November 1993
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Contents
1.
Research, Study, and Teaching in China
1
Research Fellowships and Grants
1
Social Sciences and Humanities
2
Sciences
2
Dissertation Research
3
Study
3
U.S. University-Sponsored Programs
4
Applying to Chinese Universities
4
Hopkins-Nanjing Center
4
Teaching
5
U.S.-Sponsored Programs
5
Chinese-Sponsored Opportunities
6
Spouses
7
2.
Preparing for the Trip
8
Leaving the United States
9
Passports and Visas
9
Inviting Relatives to China
12
Health Preparations
12
Medical Insurance
16
Medications and Toiletries
17
Money, Banking, and Credit Cards
18
Customs Regulations
20
Baggage and Shipping
23
Income Taxes
24
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Suggested Reading
24
Preparing for Daily Life
24
Clothing
26
Food and Cooking Supplies
29
Electrical Appliances
30
Office Equipment
31
Radios and Tape Recorders
35
Cameras and Film
35
Bicycles
37
I.D. Photos
37
Reading Material
37
Games
38
Gifts
38
Preparing for Professional Life
39
Researchers
40
Teachers
42
3.
Settling In
46
Arriving in China
46
The Tenor of Life in China
48
The Work Unit
48
The Foreign Affairs Office
51
The Quality of Life
53
Personal Relationships
57
Friendship
57
Guanxi
58
Reciprocity
60
Ritual
60
Legality and Ethics
65
The Foreign Community
68
Housing
69
Student Dormitories
72
Campus Apartments
74
Hotels
75
Arrangements for Accompanying Spouses and Children
77
The Academic Calendar
81
4.
Research
83
The Research Climate
83
Laying the Groundwork for Research
85
Implementing Your Plan
85
The Importance of Your Host Unit
85
The Research Proposal
89
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
Fees
91
Finalizing a Plan
91
Archival Research
92
Research Affiliation
93
Use of Collections
94
Fees
95
Library Rules
96
Library Hours
97
Fieldwork
97
Costs
100
Placement in the Field
102
The Research Team
102
The Research Site
105
Equipment and Supplies
107
Survey Research
109
Laboratory Research
110
Short-term Academic Visits
112
Preparations
113
Academic Conferences
114
5.
Teaching
115
The Bureaucratic Structure
117
Workloads
119
Students
120
English Language Ability
121
Class Participation
122
Students' Prior Background
123
Homework and Workloads
123
The Class Monitor and Group Pressure
123
Student-Teacher Relationships
124
Plagiarism and ''Cheating"
124
Working Conditions
124
Professional Relationships
125
Social Relationships
126
Chinese Language Lessons
128
General Adjustment Advice
128
6.
Study
130
American-Sponsored Programs
130
Chinese-Language Institutes
132
Attending a Chinese University
133
Student Life
134
Classes
136
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
7.
Services Available
138
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates
138
Postal Services
140
Currency and Banking
142
Electronic Mail, Fax, and Telex Facilities
143
The Telephone
144
Medical Care
145
Urban Transportation
147
Recreation and Entertainment
148
Internal Travel
149
8.
Leaving China
153
Glossary of Chinese Terms
155
Appendixes
A. Funding for Graduate and Postdoctoral Research in China
159
B. Language Study Programs in the People's Republic of China
173
C. Colleges and Universities Accepting Direct Application from Foreign Students
177
D. General Guidelines for Direct Application to a Chinese College or University as a Self-Sponsored Student and Excerpts from "Regulations Concerning the Admission of Foreign Students in Chinese Schools (1986)"
184
E. Visa Application for Foreigners Wishing to Study in China
194
F. The People's Republic of China Visa Application Form
195
G. Physical Examination Record for Foreigners
196
H. Organizations Sponsoring English Teachers in China
198
I. Application for Teaching Positions in China
201
J. Sample Contract for Teachers
205
K. American Express Emergency Check Cashing Locations
211
L. Approximate Costs of Hotel Rooms, Food, Internal Travel, Services, Clothing, and Medical Care, Fall 1993
214
M. Selected Reading List and References
220
N. Trial Procedures for Foreign Organizations and Individuals to Use Chinese Archives
225
O. Packing it in: Preparing for Fieldwork in the PRC
227
P. Student Advisory Resource Centers and General Reference Holdings
233
Q. Protocol Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People's Republic of China for Cooperation in Educational Exchanges
239
Index
243
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CHINA BOUND: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC
CHINA BOUND
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