Six things exchange students from UTS to City University of Hong Kong will understand

1. The easy application process

It really is incredibly easy! The most difficult part is being organised enough to know a year in advance that you want to go on exchange, and then finding out when the information sessions are. This level of organisation turns out for the best though because it means you’ve got lots of time to start saving.

2. Living on campus

CityU has a number of student residence halls, although exchange students aren’t guaranteed a place. I was lucky enough to get allocated a room, and a very rare single room at that (most rooms sleep two people). Living on campus is incredibly convenient – wake up, roll out of bed, five minute walk to class – perfect! That being said, it’s very little like living on campus in Australia. For instance, there’s a strictly applied curfew (no guests, including people from other halls, between midnight and 8AM) and as there are no bars on campus it’s not as much of a party atmosphere. Despite this, many students seem to stay up all night, and view lectures as an opportunity to catch up on lost sleep.

3. The grading system

Marks here aren’t given in numbers but in letters (A+, A, B etc.) While the exchange might be pass/fail, it would still be nice if I could understand how well (or not) I was doing…

4. Hiking

Hiking is an incredibly popular pastime in Hong Kong. Although when most people think of Hong Kong they think of dense, high rise buildings but only 30% of Hong Kong’s land has been built on. That means there’s a lot of countryside to explore. Pro tip: choose a hiking trail that ends on one of Hong Kong’s many pretty beaches.

5. Shopping

This is really what Hong Kong is famous for, and with good reason. It’s unavoidable – almost every MTR station has a shopping centre above it, and it’s a rare trip out when you don’t walk through a shopping centre at least once.

6. Wednesdays

Every Wednesday night for most of the year there are horse races on at Happy Valley. Forget your suit, dress or fascinator – these races are all about having fun and actually watching the racing, not about dressing up to see and be seen. Go along, have a flutter, and when the races finish at 11 jump on a tram and head to Wan Chai, where ladies drink for free on Wednesday nights.

– Laura