HUANG Danyang (MA, Chinese Arts and Culture Stream)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I majored in Chinese Language and Literature for my undergraduate studies. I was overwhelmed by the marvelous history and culture reflected in the Chinese language, literature, and arts. I also learned and understood more about national culture and China’s relations with the world. I realized that Chinese studies can help Chinese people understand our nation and culture deeply, and the studies of China in my undergraduate also offered me innovative ideas for my media and communication career that followed. For the past seven years, I have worked at a TV station as a TV program director, mainly responsible for various China-related programs and projects, specifically in the production of Chinese minority cultural programs. And, I also worked as the communicator, both internally and externally, in a series of cross-regional cultural media projects about the Chinese culture and Chinese stories.

Why did you choose our MA programme to further your studies?

From my previous job, I gained awareness and a strong desire to let more people understand Chinese culture and its society through the programs I created. And since then, I became deeply aware that Chinese studies plays an important role in breaking down the barriers between different countries and cultures, and that inspires me to explore and gain a better knowledge of China; Chinese-foreign cultural exchanges, and cross-cultural communications. As a Chinese and a media worker, I aspire to tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese voices to larger audiences and the globe. However, my current knowledge is still far from enough to achieve my career goals: I hope to produce more culturally concerned programs, to make more people overcome the cultural complexity and be able to experience the charm of China with the profound Chinese culture. As a result, I do need to further my knowledge in Chinese studies and know how to apply the acquired skills in my future job. Moreover, Hong Kong is such an energetic and international place in which Chinese culture and global culture meet. Whenever I come to visit, no matter on a business trip or just here to travel and shop, Hong Kong always impresses me with its blended and dynamic culture. With no exception this time: traditional Chinese culture comes alive in this contemporary Chinese metropolis, and with lots of Western elements that completely catches my attention. This is indeed an ideal environment pursue scholarship in China studies from a global perspective.

Can you share how the pandemic affects your learning experience?

I moved and have been living in Hong Kong for more than a month now, and I gradually get used to both the life and studies here. Although pursuing further studies after working for such a long period is not an easy task, I think I am coping with this switching track progressively. Under the current pandemic , there might be inconvenience in daily life and challenges for my studies, such as losing some opportunities to experience the cultural life in Hong Kong and/or join different activities on campus, and I can’t interact with professors and classmates in person. To be honest, it is a little bit disappointing, but at the same time, I can be more disciplined and focused, and make full use of the online resources to compensate for the losses during this uncertain and difficult period.

ZENG Wenjie (MA, Chinese Arts and Culture Stream)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

My name is Zeng Wenjie. I was born in Xing Ning, a county-level city of Mei Zhou City, which is in East Guangdong Province. I graduated from Guangzhou University last year, where I majored in Chinese Language and Literature. When I was doing my Bachelor's degree, I developed my interests in modern Chinese literature, literary theory, and the ancient Chinese language. And now, being influenced by the teachers from CCS, I have started to develop an interest in modern Chinese history and film.

Why did you choose the Master of Arts in Chinese Studies (MACS) programme?

Oh, there are many reasons. First of all, CUHK is well known by everyone in mainland China as a top university like Peking University. I do believe CCS is one of the best representatives among the Chinese Studies related departments. I truly like the design of them [CCS courses], as I think the courses are diverse and offer me a very different learning experience. I enjoy having cross-disciplinary studies that MACS is offering; I am now trying to explore literature, history, and film studies. Besides, I want to apply for an MPhil after graduating from MACS. I think this program allows me to observe China from an innovative and macro perspective before conducting thorough research in my next academic stage. Not to mention that there are lots of renowned scholars in our Centre. I consider it a privilege and honor to study at CCS and learn from them. As mentioned, I have decided to study overseas in the near future, I prefer enrolling in English-taught programs like ours; all in all, MACS at CUHK works perfect for me.

How are you doing this term so far? What do you plan on doing when classes resume?

Life has already been back to normal in my hometown. However, my learning environment is a bit noisy. So, I bought some noise-canceling tools for attending the online classes, and sometimes I need to go to a coffee shop to study. I find these measures efficient, and my studies are not affected so far. Plus, I think our online learning system is fairly stable and effective. Since my visa is expired, I would need to renew it when our classes resume on campus. If I can go to Hong Kong in November, I would definitely be back to campus as it must be much quieter than my place. If I can’t make it, maybe I would stay at home until the next semester. As I am busy with both the assignments and the MPhil application at the same time, I am still learning to allocate my time efficiently, and hope I would have better time management for the rest of this semester.

Can you share how the special situation with the pandemic affected your learning experience?

Well, the special situation affects my learning efficiency to a certain extent, I can't go back to the campus and/or access the libraries. Sometimes I have to find the eBooks by myself, but thanks to our thoughtful TAs and the resourceful e-learning system, I don’t need to spend much time searching the materials. I have been longing to have access to our libraries and attend face-to-face classes. Yet, I think there are still some advantages to having online learning: I can see the PowerPoint slides very clearly on my screen, and I do not need to take the subway every day, which saves quite a bit of time for me. Even with different challenges and uncertainties, I hope I can make full use of the time and online resources to learn at CCS this year!