Students in the CESEM Franco-Chinese track spend two years in France before joining UIBE, our partner in Beijing, for three years, the first of which aims to facilitate their immersion.
Traditionally, the students travel to China at the end of their first year to discover the country, with the help of the network of students already in China: Here, they report for us on their experience.

“Right from the start, we were particularly excited about the idea of organising a trip to China. As first-year CESEM students, we wanted not only to discover China as a whole, but also to have an idea of what to expect in just over a year when we will be continuing our studies in Beijing. In this way, a small group of students on the Franco-Chinese track got together to organise the trip.
It was a race against time to carry out all the administrative procedures concerning travel bookings, visa requests, the programme for our trip and insurance, to make sure the trip went without a hitch.
The length of the trip was limited – between the end of the exams and the beginning of our internships – so we quickly decided on 5 days in Beijing and 3 days in Shanghai.
When we talked about our trip to 3rd, 4th and 5th year students in Beijing, they immediately agreed to put us up. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their welcome and the activities they organised for us.
We started the trip in Beijing, where we were warmly welcomed by the students at the entrance to UIBE - University of International Business and Economics.
They introduced us to the Beijing way of life: restaurants and places that tourists usually miss. They helped us get off the beaten track and to see China as our future home rather than as a tourist destination.  Of course, we also visited all the major sites as well, such as the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall of China and Tiananmen Square.
As well as showing us their daily life, the students also showed us round the campus of UIBE, our partner university, where we will spend the next three years. The university is enormous and the setting superb: we were hugely impressed with the buildings and infrastructure that we will be using.  
Before leaving Beijing, the local students also put us in touch with their 5th year friends doing internships in Shanghai. We met them one evening and talked about their feelings at the end of their last year with CESEM, and their plans for continuing their studies or entering the job market in Asia or elsewhere.
Using the NEOMA BS alumni network we had contacted former students living and working in Shanghai. In this way, we met Didier Pujol, a former student at NEOMA BS Rouen campus, who has set up his own travel agency - China World Explorers. He showed us round Shanghai; from traditional houses called Hulong to the French concession and the celebrated Nanjing Road. It was a personalised tour that revealed all the hidden charms of the city.
The trip gave us a wealth of cultural and emotional experience, as the CESEM spirit is even stronger abroad and we were able to get a measure of its importance.
Our journey would not have been such a success without the help of our Chinese teachers Mrs Wu, Mrs Puddles, Mr Han and Mrs Li-Luo who gave us invaluable advice, and particularly without the help of Mrs Jane Mackinnon, Director of CESEM, who supported us throughout the project.  We thank them warmly for their help and support. We realised that the NEOMA Business School network was more than a tool, enabling us to meet a wide range of people and to enhance our experience during the stay.
We have returned more determined than ever to work on our Chinese and we can’t wait to go back to China for the adventure that is waiting for us there… in just one year!”

>> Find out more about CESEM at NEOMA Business School