Meet Tarela Osuobeni: Student Blogger in DC

Tarela spent a year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center from 2016 to 2017 and is currently at Johns Hopkins SAIS to complete her Masters of Arts with a concentration in China studies. 

Tarela and her roommate after the HNC graduation ceremony

欢迎你们来到中美中心的博客!  I am excited to share my experiences with you as a Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) certificate graduate and candidate for the Johns Hopkins University SAIS MA.

My Background: I was born in Nigeria and grew up in Columbus, Ohio. My interest in China began during undergrad at Duke University, where I studied political science and Chinese. During my time at Duke, I studied abroad in Beijing, Kunshan, and Suzhou. My China experiences challenged me to step out of my comfort zone linguistically and culturally. I loved my time abroad and wanted to return after graduation. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center certificate program was perfect because it catered to my academic interests (international relations and Chinese) and adventurous personality. I chose to come to DC for the SAIS MA program because I wanted to round out my experience in China by gaining additional quantitative skills needed for my desired career in political risk analysis geared toward East Asia.

My Hopkins-Nanjing Center Academic Experience:  By spending time at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, my ideas about how China sees itself in foreign relations, the global economy, and as a global problem-solver became more robust and holistic. I took courses such as国际法 (international law) where I was challenged to understand the South China Sea, international law, and international cases from China’s perspective. I was humbled by new insights on China’s relations with the rest of the world and was encouraged to step out of my personal experiences to view world events from a nuanced perspective.

Hopkins-Nanjing Center Highlights:  A few months ago, I met up with my Chinese roommate in New York.  During our conversation, we recalled our experiences in Nanjing over a bowl of hot, spicy noodles. In Chinese and English, we talked about the time we went to a Chinese rock concert and the scrumptious dinners we enjoyed at the one Indian place on Nanjing Road. I remembered being at her side when we cheered the basketball team to victories and reporting on the trip I took with other students to the China-Myanmar border. We talked about our friends who had started various student groups, such as the multicultural group, the dance group, the lacrosse interest groups, and many more. She told me about her recent hiking trip with other Hopkins-Nanjing Center alumni to the mountains in the state of Washington. I wasn’t surprised that students still kept in touch! As our conversation ended, I knew that our friendship would last us a lifetime because we had bonded over such unique adventures.

The Journey Continues: My journey continues as I complete the SAIS MA. While I am here, I am excited to share my experiences with you. Stay tuned for future posts on alumni, student experiences, and the transition from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center program to the SAIS MA program! 谢谢大家!

Written By Tarela Osuobeni, HNC Certificate’17/SAIS MA’19

Using Mobile Payments in China

Student blogger Amanda Bogan, MAIS ’18, shares an overview on how mobile payments have changed daily life in China. 

As anyone who has visited China in the past few years knows, mobile payment platforms such as Wechat Money ( 微信钱 ) and Alipay ( 支付宝 ) have dramatically altered payment methods and almost entirely eliminated the need to carry around cash in most parts of China. Though I was somewhat skeptical before I started using mobile payment platforms myself, I now use them every day for most of my regular purchases in Nanjing. Making mobile payments is easy, convenient, and can simplify and expedite a variety of regular transactions, such as buying lunch from local street vendors, making online purchases, or paying back a friend. While most places still accept cash, its use is becoming less and less common and storekeepers will sometimes prefer that customers pay using mobile payments, or will not be able to make change for customers paying with large bills. Below, I’ll go through the basic steps for setting up an account and some perks of using mobile payments.

Different Mobile Payment Platforms
There are two major providers for mobile payments in China: Alipay and WeChat Money, run by Chinese fintech giants Alibaba and Tencent, respectively. Almost all stores and vendors will accept both of these two payment methods, so it is possible to use only one of the two platforms and get by just fine. However, a notable exception is certain online stores and vendors. For example, JD Mall's largest shareholder is Tencent, and therefore only accepts payments via WeChat, whereas JD's top competitor, Taobao, is part of the Alibaba group, and only accepts Alipay. Personally, I only used WeChat for my first year in Nanjing, but eventually set up an Alipay account as well so I could also make purchases on Taobao.

Setting up a mobile payment account
Both Wechat and Alipay now allow registration using international bank cards, however there are some limitations on the kinds of cards that will be accepted, and you may accumulate some fees associated with converting currencies. Generally speaking, most students will set up a Chinese bank account for their time in Nanjing. (ICBC, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank all have branches located near the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.) When setting up a bank account, it is best to confirm with the bank that your account can support mobile payments. Once you have opened an account, linking your account to WeChat or Alipay is fairly simple—both apps have English versions and will walk you through setting up your account. For Alipay you simply download the app and then you will be prompted to enter the necessary personal information (such as your bank account and passport number). To link your account for using WeChat Money, start by opening up WeChat, clicking on the “Me” icon at the bottom of the screen, then select “wallet,” and then select “cards” from the top menu and fill in the necessary information.

Perks to making mobile payments
Besides the obvious perk of never needing to count your change and being able to leave your wallet at home, due to competition between the different mobile payment platforms, there are often special discounts given to users. For example, last week when I took my roommate out for dinner, the restaurant we went to offered a 15% discount if I paid using Alipay. When making regular purchases via WeChat Money or Alipay there will often be a small automatic discount taken at the time of purchases, generally ranging from a few cents to a couple kuai.

There are also popular apps such as 大众点评 and 美团  that will offer specials for local restaurants and other stores, providing you pay using WeChat or Alipay.

Most of what I know about mobile payments and buying things in China I learned from my roommate and other Chinese friends. If you have questions while getting started with mobile payments or online purchases, most Chinese student will be knowledgeable and willing to help!

Written by Amanda Bogan, MAIS ‘18

Please note recommendations on using mobile payment apps and on the specific apps mentioned above are the student’s own. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center does not endorse specific mobile payment apps.

Summer Internships in China

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Internship Support Fund (HISF) provides financial assistance to international students interning in China at a variety of organizations over the summer. Read on to hear about their internship experiences.

Stephanie Gruetze, Certificate ’18, interned at China Policy, a policy analysis and strategic advisory firm headquartered in Beijing. She interned within the agriculture portfolio, looking at the effect of policy changes on both China’s domestic market and international agriculture markets. With the help of the HISF award, she is pursuing her interests for a career goal relating to China and agriculture.



 At Trivium, a research firm focused on China’s politics and economy, Malcolm Black, MAIS ’19, applied the theory learned in his coursework to what is going on in China today. This aspect of the internship, alongside working with other Hopkins-Nanjing Center and Johns Hopkins SAIS alumni, made interning at Trivium a rewarding experience for him.

              

At Trivium China, Nicholas Felt, MAIS ’19, followed the activities of China’s leadership as well as conducted policy analysis for consulting projects in a variety of different sectors. Working at Trivium provided great insight into how he can translate his interest in Chinese political economy into a rewarding career after leaving the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Furthermore, spending the summer in China gave Nicholas more time to explore new areas of China on weekends, such as the nearly 1,700 year old Lingyin Temple(灵隐寺) in Hangzhou, pictured here.


This summer, Anneliese Gegenheimer, Certificate ’18, Johns Hopkins SAIS ’19, interned in Beijing at APCO Worldwide, a government affairs and strategic communications consultancy.  She was part of the technology sector team and  primarily focused on researching investments in core technologies in China.

As an intern at Adia Entertainment, Steven Rotchadl, MAIS ’19, had firsthand experience with the development process for a variety of AAA video game titles. He often served as an indirect gateway to explain the specific needs of western clients to his Chinese colleagues, while also reinforcing Adia's marketing department and supporting the management of the production process.



Andrew Rankin, MAIS ’19, interned with the US Foreign Commercial Service at the US Embassy Beijing for three months this summer. His projects included China trade enforcement and compliance, collateralized trademark bubbles, and a US-EU overlapping interest report. On a daily basis Andrew worked with a team of officers and specialists to create English and Chinese promotional documents and facilitated US multinational corporations’ market access through various events.

Alexandra Wasik, MAIS ’18, spent her summer interning with Nalco Champion, an ecolab company in Shanghai. Her projects included a market analysis on China’s privatized oil refining industry and a case study on Yixing Kingone, a fuel additive producer in China.

Fall 2018 Campus Visits and Virtual Info Sessions

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center admissions team will be on the road again this fall! Admissions representatives will be holding info sessions, visiting Chinese classes, holding one-on-one appointments and offering optional admissions interviews at colleges and universities across the United States. See the list below to see if the Hopkins-Nanjing Center admissions team will be visiting your school this fall or visit our recruiting calendar for more details about upcoming visits.

If you can't meet us in person, we are also holding virtual info sessions throughout the fall. Click on the links below for more information to RSVP and sign up for email reminders.

• Virtual Information Session: September 25, 8:00-9:00pm ET
• Virtual Information Session: October 24, 8:00-9:00pm ET
• Virtual Information Session: November 29, 8:00-9:00pm ET

Please contact us at nanjing@jhu.edu for visit details or to schedule a one-on-one appointment or an admissions interview when we are at your campus. For on-the-road updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @Hopkinsnanjing.