Academic experience
I studied Investments & Portfolio Management, International Financial Management, Money and Banking and Principle of Insurance. The reason why I studied finance related subjects was because Hong Kong being one of the most famous and well-developed finance centers around the world. Thereforem I could truly understand how finance affects the city image and people's life.
I find it pretty useful and intuitive that in CUHK there are more practical training in finance courses such as Simulating Market Game.
The students there were working so hard that I needed to have a better management of my time. With the time management skills I learnt from my dear roommate, I could enjoy the landscape of Hong Kong during my free time while catching up with my studies.
The enrollment process is similar to UQ's enrollment system but you do need to pay attention to the registration process. In most cases, the courses that got approved in the study plan by my faculty in UQ weren't open or didn't exist on CUHK 's system. Also, First-Come-First-Serve means that I needed to be “robbing classes” otherwise I would have to select others and wait for my faculty's approval of a new study plan.
Personal experience
I made a lot of new friends during the exchange. They were not only local students, but were also from India, Germany, France, Canada, mainland China, etc. We would go to the gym together, play Monopoly or PingPong, cook and of course, sharing interesting experiences with each other.
I have gone to 90% of the places in Hong Kong, and I find that Hong Kong is small but delicate, modern but cultured. The city center is surrounded by skyscrapers as you would see in movies. What surprises me is that there is a place called MacLehose Trail which is far away from the city and it's a hiking path with absolutely impressive scenes. My 5 friends and I who were all exchange students went to hike and camp for two days. Enjoying the mountain views as well as the beach scenery. And I wouldn't tell you that we came across a wild boar which came to us and rob our food...
Accommodation
I live on campus. The college I chose is the newest one but was quite far away from teaching blocks. But there are many school buses and nearly all of the CUHK students rely on them to commute. And I do suggest you to choose C.W.Chu college if possible. Even though this college is relatively small compared to others, it’s quite warm and comfortable. We had a fitness room, activities room, TV room, laundry room, canteen and other modern facilities. One of the most special points of C.W.Chu college is that we had 3 communal dinners per week and this is really a good opportunity for us to make fellowship! The staff of the college was also nice to everyone. Whenever I needed help, they were always there for me. Overall, the accommodation experience in CUHK was awesome.
Costs
Accommodation :1200AUD per semester
Food: 7 AUD per meal
Transport: 1 -3AUD each time
Entertainment: Costs relatively the same as in Brisbane
Flight: 1000AUD round trip
I would recommend to budget 6000AUD for one semester exchange.
Challenge
The biggest challenge during my experience was that I needed to get used to the teaching and examination style of CUHK. They did not have lecture recordings and most of the classes did not have tutorials. Thus, I would have to attend every lecture and take notes. Essentially, after talking with lecturers and getting the assistance from local classmates, I was able to catch up with their learning pattern gradually.
Professional Development
In terms of professional development, I would say it’s operational skills in finance. As I mentioned above, Hong Kong is one of the biggest financial centers in the world. The professors in CUHK would put much more emphasis on real-world issues. We have attended a series of workshops which were about how to interpret signals to the stock market performance, conduct simulations of trading derivatives and so on. It is of great usefulness for our professional development because we had hands-on experience on the real finance area.
Highlight
Hiking and camping in MacLehose Trail.
Tasting a thousand kinds of Chinese food.
Get to know about the living styles and culture of Hong Kong people and making friends with them.
Taking the chance to travel to mainland China.
Top tips
Not neccessary to take too many luggage because the living costs in HK is lower than in Australia and it’s super convenient to buy what you need.
Not to take too many compulsory courses or difficult courses because you should spend more time traveling or experiencing the life in HK.
The season in HK is totally opposite to Australia, so be aware of bringing clothes.