HBA vs PiB

For those of you who don't know, I am studying Chinese in China this summer through the generosity of the Light Fellowship, which is a Yale-based fund created by Richard U. Light to encourage Yale students to study East Asian languages (a properly grateful post on the subject is upcoming). In the area of Chinese, the Light Fellowship only funds a select few programs in mainland China, with the most popular being the Harvard Beijing Academy, Princeton in Beijing, and Duke Study in China. Every year, come Light Fellowship-time, students have to pick their poison, and the debate is renewed on which program is "the best."
 
I mention this because the subject took up a large percentage of my conversation with Binh and her PiB friend on our evening out. After hitting up the zoo, we caught a cab to the 后海 Houhai area, so named after the lake which is its central feature. It's easily one of the most visually gratifying hot spots in Beijing, with brightly lit clubs and beautiful greenery surrounding the lake. We (Binh, her friend, my friend and I) actually ducked down a little alleyway only to find Hutong Pizza, the place where my mom and I had eaten three weeks back. After Binh approved the atmosphere, we settled down to a delicious meal, and some fun conversation (much of which ended up being centered on one Kaitlyn Newell... don't know how it happened). It was also discovered that my HBA friend Claire is a serious Settlers of Catan player, something she and Binh bonded over quickly. I was frightened. 


Eventually, we started talking about our respective programs, and the conversation broke down as follows:
 
HBA

• 9 weeks long, including our week-long social study
• includes a social study week when we take a field trip to various parts of China
• located at 北京语言大学 Beijing Yuyan Daxue (Beijing Language and Culture University), which is close to Wudaokou, the college area of Beijing
• holds class 4 days a week, followed by a test on Friday

PiB

• 8 weeks long
• located at Beijing Normal University, which is much closer to the rest of the city and has more amenities readily available
• holds class 5 days a week, followed by a test Friday afternoon (which means they actually study about two months' more of Chinese in regular terms)
• the original Chinese study abroad program; HBA is based off of PiB

 
As we talked about the differences in our programs, I began to realize they were not as distinct as I thought they were. Aside from the social study, there is very little that sets HBA apart from PiB. We learn almost the exact same vocabulary, work almost the exact same amount of time, and generally go to the exact same places on our weekend excursions. Honestly, to any future Light Fellows whos find this post, there is very little to distinguish one program from the other. I've heard rave reviews from PiB students about their teachers, and I can tell you first-hand that HBA teachers are amazing. As for Duke, I unfortunately don't know enough to make a comparison, but let's face it, no matter which program a person attends, there is no better place to learn Chinese than Beijing.