Student Shares What She Has Learned During Her Time in Beijing

Authored by: Naeemah Haymon

Hello everyone! Today I would like to talk about my experiences in Beijing.  

This year, I ended my academic school year two weeks early in order to join other high school students from around the country in a three-week adventure exploring China’s greatest megacity. In school, I learned that a megacity was a place with an extremely large population that is more than double the size of the next largest city in its country. I learned that these cities are usually located in extremely poor countries that can’t afford to manage it, which results in poverty, crime and poor infrastructure. This is the information I carried with me to Beijing. Now having experienced life in Beijing, I can say that these statements are not true.

The first thing that struck me when I came to Beijing was the air. This is the first thing everyone thinks about when they think of China and it’s true: the air isn’t the best. But it’s extremely easy for someone to say China’s air is terrible without realizing that China produces 40% of the world’s coal and most of your everyday items, such as the clothes you are wearing right now. Not to mention China has one-sixth of the world’s population. Despite all of this, I learned that the air has gotten better in recent years. China has been taking steps to decrease its air pollution by closing coal mines and using more environmentally friendly power sources such as solar and wind power. I also learned that many people often walk and ride bikes to travel. We as Americans tend to forget that we use and waste more individually compared to the average Chinese person because we aren't subject to such a large population as Beijing.

Another misconception about megacities is that they have poor and unkept infrastructure. This is not the case for Beijing. Its subway system quickly made this statement untrue. When I first got on the subway, I was completely shocked. It was the cleanest subway I had ever seen in my life. Throughout these three weeks, I have had the chance to explore the city by taking the subway. I got to see many beautiful buildings. During a central business district exploration game, I was able to see the architecture of Beijing’s downtown area. I learned it was new, modern and constantly changing. I also saw art in educational institutions such as Peking University where Weiming lake adds to the University’s already diverse landscape. I learned that Beijing is home to both modern and historic architecture which makes its landscape different from other places.

Beijing further changed my opinions of megacities after I learned about its economy. China is the world’s second-largest economy and within China, Beijing’s economy is ranked among the highest. I learned that finance plays a very important part in Beijing’s economy and can be attributed to its wealth. My experiences in this program have shown me how megacities such as Beijing operate, and I learned that megacities can be completely sustainable.

My experiences in this program have also taught me a lot about myself. This was the first time I have ever gone anywhere alone. What made it even more challenging was that I couldn’t contact my parents. This made me feel truly by myself in a country I had never been to before. However, for three weeks, I was able to manage my money and keep track of my belongings successfully. Doing this without my parents showed me that I am capable of being independent.

After participating in farm work in the rural area outside of Beijing, I learned that I enjoy farming. Farming isn’t available where I live and was too far out of my comfort zone for me to ever try it previously. But I learned that I enjoy the sounds of nature more than the sounds of cars and people in busy cities. I also learned that I really enjoy organic food. It brought me absolute joy to be able to eat fruit I picked from a tree.

One of the greatest challenges I faced on this trip was the language barrier. This made it extremely difficult to understand people. This experience was important for me because I usually see people conforming to Western culture. This leads me to assume quite often that everyone speaks English or shares my Western traditions in some way. But being in Beijing, it was expected of me to know Mandarin and Chinese culture. Not knowing these things is what made it challenging and frustrating. This experience was most important because it taught me to check myself and my assumptions, and it showed me how to experience a different culture with complete curiosity and humility. This is a lesson I will carry on with me after this program, and I hope to share it with others. Thank you!