If you are European like me and arrive to China for the first time, you don´t just enter a foreign country, you enter a whole new world. China has always fascinated me because of this very reason. It is a country different from so many things we know and that we are used to in the west. In China, change is ever present, a fact which makes living here all the more exciting.
When I told my family and friends that I wanted to do an internship in China and live in a 15 million inhabitant city almost all of them told me right away that there was no way they would come for a visit. Apparently travelling to China still seems to be a daunting prospect to many people, which might not least be due to the fact that there is little known about this country outside its borders and there are quite a lot of stereotypes about the Chinese. But for all those who like travelling the world, who are open minded and who are in for a great adventure, China is the place to go.

The first thing that struck me upon my arrival to Chengdu was the mild climate. I had left Germany, my home country, wearing a winter coat and leaving behind the first snow of the season. When I arrived in Chengdu it was goodbye winter clothes and hello summer although it was already mid October. I live in a relatively large, shared apartment with two other members of InternChina who made me feel welcome right away and helped me find my way around on my first day. There´s so much to see and so many new things to discover and I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks when I settle in and get to know the Chengdu way of living.

One thing I can already say for sure: Vive la différence!

 

If you also would like to experience the “real China”, apply now!