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Einen fundierten Einblick in die Kultur und Gesellschaft Chinas bekamen Studierende beim fünften "China-Day".

The fifth “China Day” at Aalen University was all about the Middle Kingdom. Students met with representatives of German companies which have a seat in China in order to benefit from their experiences in a direct dialogue. Furthermore a Chinese exchange student presented about her home. The event, which is supposed to help to prepare for an internship or a study stay in China, was organized by the International Relations Office of the University.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Hering, former Rector of Aalen University, opened the "China Day" with a report about origins of cooperation with Chinese partner universities. After that, other experts gave profound insight into the life, work, and study conditions. Michael Egner, General Manager at Continental Tires in Hefei clarified the work culture of his company through a video. The impressive video was filmed by Kristina Schmid, a student in the course of Health Management studies, who is currently completing an internship at Continental Tires. Besides Michael Egner himself, Gebhard Parigger, General Manager at Benecke Changshun in Changzhou, joined in together with his colleagues Kristin Harmeyer and Nicole Steiger, General Manager at JSC Automotive headquartered in Stuttgart and Shanghai respectively. The representatives were supported by Pascal Ortner, student of International Business studies, who reported on his own experience from his internship in China.

To give the participating students as broad a spectrum of information as possible a so-called Market Place was organized. This type of information exchange has the advantage that the interested students came together with the company representatives and experienced students in small groups. "This form of exchange gives students who are interested in an internship or studies in this fascinating country better understanding of the local mentality and values and insights into the society," said Karin Kadow from the International Relations Office. "We want to reduce prejudice and encourage our students to spend a semester in China," said the organizer of the "China-Day". In addition, the aim is to deepen the contact with the Chinese partner universities. Currently there are 29 Chinese students studying at Aalen University. Some of them, of course, were involved in the event too. Ruijun Xu from Southeast University, Nanjing, informed about her homeland and gave valuable tips to the students about life in this foreign culture. Ruijun Xu was supported by Maximilian Hofmann, student of International Sales Management and Technology, who studied one semester at the partner university Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang.

The participants concluded the day in a cozy and relaxed atmosphere. This gave especially the students who were looking for an internship position in China the opportunity to network with companies.