New white paper gives insight into Chinese academic life overseas
Global Times
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Chinese students studying overseas ordered more than 80 million delivery meals in 2018, according to a recent white paper on the group.

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Chinese students pose for pictures at the graduation ceremony of University of Sydney in Australia on October 12, 2017. (File photo: VCG)

Meanwhile, the University of Toronto, Columbia University and University College London witnessed the largest number of student break-ups, the survey read.

China's Ministry of Education said in March 2018 that there were more than 1.45 million Chinese students studying and doing research overseas, the China News Service reported.

"The survey shows these students are living a good life, but they should try to learn more about China and the world and be more responsible," Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Broad survey

The survey, titled the "White Paper of Chinese Students Overseas," was released in January by Providence Academy, an organization connected to China's education giant New Oriental, which aims to "improve the quality of Chinese students overseas." 

It illustrated 50 facts with extensive data on studying abroad, covering subjects including academic life, living, emotions, fashion and food. The report did not disclose the sample size or how the survey was carried out.

"The status quo and future trend of Chinese students overseas will have a significant influence on China's economy and education development," read the white paper.

According to the survey, there are a total of 842,140 Chinese students studying in 10 major destination countries. The US has the most Chinese students with 363,341, followed by Australia with 192,984. Canada, Japan and the UK were respectively the third, fourth and fifth most popular countries for Chinese students.

The most popular majors for Chinese students are Business & Management, Engineering and Math & Computer Science. Literature, Archaeology and History are at the end of the list. The "most-hated" courses are Calculus I, II, III and English intro writing.

The average score for IELTS is 5.6 out of 9 and 79 out of 120 for TOEFL.

Australia has the most expensive tuition fees at $35,193 on average each year, the equivalent of 35 iPhoneX's.

Fun facts

As well as looking into the academic situation, the survey brought to light some interesting facts about Chinese students in other countries. For instance, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds and Arena of Valor are among their favorite video games to play.

WeChat, Weibo and Line are the most used social media platforms.

Jo Malone's perfume and Apple or Sephora gift cards are the most popular presents among Chinese students.

"Out of every 10 Chinese students overseas, three pretend to go to the gym and are only there to take selfies… only one is seriously working out," read the white paper.

Chinese students have voted Berlin, Montreal, New York City and Seoul as the places where love at first sight happens the most.

Purdue University, MIT and Harvard University have the highest rate of students' getting married after graduation, while students at the University of Southern California, King's College London and University of Melbourne are more likely to cheat, said the survey.

Berklee College of Music has produced the most celebrities, and Moscow State University students are good at drinking.

Kevin, Tony, Alex, Helen, Christina and Jessica are the most popular English names for Chinese students.

Meanwhile, the more than 840,000 Chinese students "ordered around 86,319,350 delivery meals over the year." 

Their favorite dishes are "fried eggs with tomatoes," which has been called China's "national dish" because it is easy to cook and resembles China's national flag.

Instant noodles, hotpots and dumplings are also favored by Chinese students.

Taste of home

"I totally agree with the instant noodles part," said Zhang Hanyu, a Chinese student who just graduated from a US university. "Many of my schoolmates take a whole suitcase of instant noodles from China. It's a taste of home."

"I don't like the items that show stereotypes," Ma Tina (pseudonym), a postgraduate student at the University of Melbourne, told the Global Times.

"There are some Chinese students who live a luxurious, fashionable or dishonest life, but most of us are just studying and playing like students in Chinese universities," she said.

Chu said the survey shows that Chinese students studying abroad are mostly from families with good financial conditions. "The survey also shows that they are not independent enough and rely on other people's services."

From his research, Chu found that many students do not have a deep understanding of Chinese society.

Since the reform and opening-up in 1978, more than 3 million Chinese citizens have returned to China after graduating from overseas schools and universities, accounting for 83.73 percent of the total Chinese students overseas, said the Ministry of Education.