Between 3 and 14 January, 2022, I was studying at Winter Online School based on East China University of Science and Technology- ECUST. Due to the pandemic, the event was carried out remotely.

ECUST is situated in Shanghai. It is one of the leading universities that is under the aegis of the Chinese Ministry of Education.

The University includes the Research Park, which consists of 53 academic institutes, 8 national academic and 16 regional research centers. ECUST is also authorized among six other national Universities as a National Technology Center.


ECUST has three campuses: Xuhui, Fengxian and Jinshan that cover a total area of more than 177 hectares. Their buildings and infrastructure are located on an area of 816 000 square meters. ECUST libraries hold over 2.5 million books, and more than 30 000 students study there.

For admission to the ECUST Winter School various documents were required, including international certificates of proficiency in Chinese, a CV and a transcript (academic progress certificate). After the pre-approval of the application, it was required to pass the examination for knowledge of the Chinese language. There were two: written and oral, each one lasted for 90 minutes. Due to the time shift the examination started at 3 a.m. Moscow time, and that was quite unusual for me. It was quite hard, but I managed to score 88 out of 100 and was admitted to the senior group. There were 14 students. They were from Vietnam, Corea, France and one from Russia.

The courses were held from 3 to 14 January, from 12:00 to 17:00 with a 10-minute break. The program was carried out in Chinese and was very interesting. Its goal was to deeply study Chinese culture and the Shanghai way of life. Chinese experts offered curious lectures on combining tradition and modernity in a certain region..

Experienced teachers gave useful instructions and recommendations for learning Chinese. Daily comprehensive practice of communication has greatly improved my knowledge. I learned a lot of new words, tried to have dialogues and did practice tasks. Before classes, I watched video lectures on various aspects of life and culture in China.

The cultural online tour touched me with its scale. I was very impressed with the sightseeing and architecture of Shanghai. It was interesting to get acquainted with traditional Shanghai food, clothing style and theater, to learn martial arts, Chinese painting and calligraphy from professional teachers. I especially liked the lectures related to Chinese culture. As well, watching the Chinese tea ceremony was very exciting. We were told about the traditions of tea drinking in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This is the first time I have witnessed this process, it is very calming and helps to gather the thoughts.

The classes devoted to Chinese traditional theater were very interesting. We watched the Chinese and Shanghai Opera. I didn't expect to be able to hear a real concert online! The music, the costumes, the movements - everything was very beautiful. I also learned a lot of interesting things about Chinese painting and calligraphy.

It is worth noting that the teachers always had good sound and picture in the presentations that were of a very high quality, and the videos were very rich. The lesson plans were well thought through. I was really able to enjoy personal communication with teachers and an integrated approach to studying the material, appreciated the detailing of the educational process. Mr. Wang and Mrs. Jessica gave us comprehensive Chinese practice in a professional manner and my Chinese has improved a lot.

In general, the course was very diverse, colorful and useful for me. I am glad that I was able to learn something new and I think that this training helped me improve my vocabulary, pronunciation and get a huge practice in using grammar. I definitely had a good time. We enjoyed doing homework and presentations, and the whole group was involved in the process. It was a great teamwork and learning experience!

I liked the feedback from the teachers, the choice of material and the opportunity to have a lively dialogue with the teacher during the practice, as well as the chance to meet students from different parts of the world.

I thank the MPEI staff, in particular Sergey Shirinsky, and Ms. Liu Han from ECUST for giving me the opportunity to participate in the study competition. Thank you very much for the experience and the chance to practice at one of the best universities in China! Communicating with foreign professors, teachers and students from other countries who do not speak Russian has been a colossal experience in my life. 

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