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the george washington part is true!! i swear!!
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<p>You mean to tell me there is no Mainland China students in George Washington, or do they just discriminate against American citizens from Shanghai?</p>
<p>Is it too rude if I say I don't believe you?</p>
<p>Btw, there is a Chinese Students & Scholars Association in GW. I wonder how it got there?</p>
<p>well, its according to my buddies</p>
<p>ok, then tell me where those Chinese students currently in GW came from.</p>
<p>Are you saying that GW discriminate against American citizens in Shanghai and welcome native Chinese students with open arms?</p>
<p>I'm a black guy and I had a great time in beijing during the summer...i didn't feel unsafe at all and I want to go back :D so if you are chinese I am sure you will have a great time (although expect some odd looks...some might expect to hear mandarin from a chinese face!). To be honest if you feel safe in your average american major city Beijing will be a cakewalk. I was warned of beggars that bump into you and pick your pockets but even though a few came in very close to me that never happened...these might seem like really bad things but they did not detract from my experience.</p>
<p>As far as getting arrested...I wouldn't worry too much about capitol punishment....they are not going to go executing american citizens unless you manage to accidently take out Hu Jintao or trip over Mao's tomb or something. (that was a joke)</p>
<p>As far as H5N1 (Avian Flu) that is a risk you will have to take. If it becomes an epidemic of course I am sure your program managers will take care of you. Take care when handling dead birds while cooking, make sure your poultry is well cooked. I read the NEJM (new england journal of medicine) report which is avaliable online and most of the infected had contact with birds of some kind (usually on a farm). I recommend you read that (actually I recommend EVERYONE read that) </p>
<p>Remember: Most everything can be bargained down. If you have a digital camera bring enough flash memory and if you have one a laptop to dump pictures on and perhaps some CD-R's to burn them on for more space. I loved taking pics there on my 2 week trip and as you can imagine the number of picture ops are great.</p>
<p>I'm no expert as I was only there for a short time but feel free to PM me. I'm sure when you get back I'll want to ask you questions about your experience :D I would also encourage you to at least visit some other cities like Xi'an, Shanghai, HK, and some small towns.</p>