'my experience taught me China has a lot to offer'

While most of my classmates at St Paul's Co-educational College chose to either stay in Hong Kong or go abroad to continue their studies, I opted for Beijing. With the mainland opening up to the world and its top universities enrolling more foreign students, I think it is essential for us - especially Hongkongers - to learn more about China. My own knowledge was limited to news about its economy and threatened natural reserves and I didn't even know much Putonghua.

I believe it is impossible to learn something thoroughly unless you experience it personally. Thus, without finishing my A-levels, I decided to apply for Peking University to study in the School of International Studies.

My journey to China started in September 2003.

On arriving at the campus, I discovered that my dormitory looked like a refugee camp. The corridors were dark and wet, with a couple of dripping fridges blocking the way. I had to share a 25 square-metre room with no air-conditioning. In winter, the windows could not be closed properly and we had to use newspapers and tape to try to seal them.

I was trapped in a deep depression for a while.

Things improved, however, after I started to get acquainted with some of the foreign students and I made friends from all over the world, many of whom shared my frustration over our initial experience of Beijing. My roommate was from Congo, Africa, who spoke fluent French and Putonghua.

The local students were also friendly; a year three student in my department offered me a ticket for a speech given by former US president Jimmy Carter. A few days later I was excited to be able to attend a speech by Qian Qichen, former foreign minister of China. Later in the year we had visits by chancellors of Ivy-league universities and chief executives of leading companies.