Chinese Exchange Students Research Articles

Multifaceted challenges and opportunities: Chinese exchange students’ experiences in the U.S. transnational online learning ecology

Transnational distance education has become an emerging trend in promoting academic collaboration and exchange during and after the pandemic. Guided by the learning ecology framework, we conducted mixed methods research by distributing an online survey to Chinese students (N=51) to collect quantitative and qualitative data. This helped us deeply understand their experiences and perceptions of a cross-cultural online learning environment in the United States. We applied multiple regression and thematic analysis to analyze quantitative and qualitative data. The merging of both types of data analysis indicated: the confirmation of the importance of English learning resources, the transformation of online learning practices, the insufficiency of students-to-instructors interaction, discordance of technological self-efficacy and the disadvantages of technology-assisted instruction, and discordance between the usefulness and difficulties of learning activities and assessments. We further discussed appropriate strategies and techniques to promote online teaching and learning excellence in transnational distance education.

한국 대학생과 중국 유학생의 공감학습 요구분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to present the concept of empathic learning that develops the cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal areas in a balanced manner based on the learner's self-empathy, and to understand the perceptions of korean college students and Chinese international students about empathic learning. In addition, this study is meaningful in establishing a framework for the theoretical foundation of future empathic learning programs by identifying field needs that reflect the concept of empathic learning.
 Methods A survey was conducted using an Empathic Learning questionnaire among 193 Korean university stu-dents and 210 Chinese exchange students enrolled in 4-year universities located in Busan, South Korea. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 45 items, divided into cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal domains, with 15 questions in each category. Quantitative data collected was analyzed using paired sample t-tests to examine dif-ferences between importance levels and implementation levels. Additionally, using Borich's demand level and LF model, items with consistently high demand across all domains were identified.
 Results The overall reliability of the entire questionnaire was found to be .965. Korean college students showed a high demand for the cognitive domain (7 items), emotional domain (1 item), and attitudinal domain (7 items). Upon reviewing the items, it was evident that the cognitive domain included content related to understanding learning material, setting and implementing learning goals and plans, and reviewing the learning process. The emotional domain included strategies for transitioning into a positive mood while studying. The attitudinal domain encompassed self-motivation for learning, attaching meaning to the learning process, and having confidence in one's learning abilities. Chinese international students exhibited a high demand for only 5 items within the cogni-tive domain. Specifically, these items were related to understanding learning objectives and areas of interest, as well as assessing comprehensible and proficient sections.
 Conclusions Firstly, Korean college students appear to recognize the importance of cognitive and attitudinal do-mains in learning, even though their actual execution in these areas may be somewhat lacking. However, they seem to have a limited understanding of the significance of the emotional domain. Secondly, Chinese international students exhibited a high demand for the cognitive domain, particularly in areas related to learning objectives and understanding learning content. However, it's notable that they do not seem to fully grasp the importance of emo-tional and attitudinal factors. Thirdly, both groups of students displayed low awareness regarding the emotional domain. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement programs that consider the specific demands of the target audience, focusing on cognitive and attitudinal domains. Additionally, it is essential to incorporate programs aimed at nurturing emotional intelligence to help students experience the joy of learning.

Measuring patients' satisfaction toward health tourism in Malaysia through hospital environment, nutritional advice, and perceived value: A study on Chinese exchange students.

Malaysia is a reputed destination for health tourism in the Asia Pacific region for its hospitable nature and good quality of service. Patients' satisfaction has been a key concern in health tourism to maintain the flow of tourists' arrival for medical purposes. By considering the importance of health tourism and patients' satisfaction in Malaysia, this study aimed to examine the influence of hospital environment, nutritional advice, perceived value on patients' satisfaction. This study is cross-sectional in nature and follows a quantitative approach. The researchers used questionnaires as a survey tool to obtain information from the respondents. The sample of this is chosen from Chinese exchange students in Malaysia. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 205 usable responses were selected from the respondents and proceeded with further analysis. The study conducted structural equation modeling using Smart PLS version 3. The results found that hospital environment, nutritional advice, and perceived value significantly influence patients' satisfaction in Malaysia.

Aspiration for cosmopolitan capital and ambiguous loss: Chinese exchange students’ experiences in U.S. higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT This study adopts a critical phenomenological approach to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the transnational educational experiences of Chinese college students in short-term academic exchange programmeshosted by universities in the United States. This study uses concepts of cosmopolitan capital and ambiguous loss to interpret the pandemic experiences of Chinese students. Accordingly, the current study promotes scholarly conversation about the meanings of global student mobility in the time of COVID-19, especially international exchange students who have missed learning opportunities in their academic, social, and cultural lives and have lacked social and emotional supports. Overall, this study expands the growing body of evidence on the impacts of COVID-19 on global student mobility and provides critical insights into the nexus between cosmopolitan elite positions and structural problems of the cosmopolitan social hierarchy within the specific cross-national context of higher education between the U.S. and China.

Sustaining Short-Term Exchange Students’ Willingness to Communicate in Second Language in Multilingual Classrooms

This study explores changes in willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) inside multilingual classrooms among short-term exchange students. Data were collected from eight Chinese exchange students studying in three universities in Canada and two instructors teaching in one of these universities through in-depth interviews. Qualitative content analysis was conducted and three patterns of WTC changes were found: positive, negative, and no apparent changes. Three main factors underlying these changes were identified, which include students’ perceptions of values in speaking up, sense of fitting in, and classroom environment. The two instructors from the host university provided positive comments and supportive suggestions regarding international students’ L2 WTC and oral participation in multilingual classrooms. This study highlights the importance of sustaining short-term exchange students’ L2 WTC through concerted efforts from students and teachers for maximizing the effectiveness of study abroad programs.

Intransitive Encounter : Sino-U.S. Literatures and the Limits of Exchange by Nan Z. Da

Reviewed by: Intransitive Encounter : Sino-U.S. Literatures and the Limits of Exchange by Nan Z. Da Hsuan L. Hsu Intransitive Encounter : Sino-U.S. Literatures and the Limits of Exchange. Nan Z. Da. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018. Pp. 304. $75.00 (cloth); $74.99 (eBook). A Chinese translation of "Rip Van Winkle." A speech by Ralph Waldo Emerson honoring the Burlingame-Seward treaty. A translation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" inscribed on a Mandarin fan. The autobiography and poetry of Yale's first Chinese graduate, who founded a school for Chinese exchange students in Hartford. Judging by the stature of the figures and institutions involved, we might expect that the archive of nineteenth-century literary encounters between China and the United States would have generated lasting networks of influence. However, as Nan Z. Da demonstrates in Intransitive Encounter: Sino-U.S. Literatures and the Limits of Exchange, these transnational, cross-cultural events were characterized not by cross-pollination but by intransitivity: they were "simultaneously momentous and superficial," exchanges in which nothing is exchanged (2). Although this quality of intransitivity, wherein the content of communication "slides like water off a duck's back," might appear to minimize the value of these Sino-U.S. encounters, Da makes [End Page 587] the persuasive, counterintuitive argument that the very "formality" of these occasions enables us to understand the distinctive way in which literature mediated Sino-U.S. communication (28, 1). Writing against a core assumption of many transnational literary scholars, Da argues that foreign literature was mobilized not for the transmission of new ideas but "as a conceptual shortcut that eased social projects and political enunciation" (3). Rather than take at face value the multitude of diplomatic, historical, and literary historical celebrations of moments of cultural transmission, Da argues that we should attend to the lightness and ephemerality of cross-cultural contact. By closely analyzing the formality and intransitivity inherent in some of the nineteenth century's most frequently cited episodes of transpacific literary encounter, Da models an empirical approach to the study of literary exchange—one that is sensitized to the myriad ways in which other people's literature was mobilized without any investment in transpacific cultural or political transmission (whether in the form of lasting literary influence, cultural assimilation, or political reform). Intransitive Encounter develops a historicized method of reading that blends "surface reading"—with its close attention to material and linguistic surfaces rather than a search for deeper hidden meanings—with clearly articulated insights drawn from sociologists of communication such as Erving Goffman, Niklas Luhmann, and Bruno Latour. Each of the book's six chapters considers a fascinating and carefully curated instance of Sino-U.S. literary encounter. Drawing on an impressive knowledge base that spans theory, sociology, China studies, American studies, Asian American studies, and book history—as well as her unusual (for an Americanist) capacity to rigorously interpret texts as they flow between English and Chinese translations—Da provides compelling accounts of the historical context and theoretical stakes underpinning each of these encounters. Drawing on China's role as a site of intransitivity in Western historiography, Washington Irving's writings about China, and an unattributed Chinese translation of "Rip Van Winkle," chapter one reframes Irving's tale of historical insularity as a staging of unsociability set in a counterfactual "Chinese-Dutch America." Chapter two coins the term "reformality" to resolve the apparent contradiction between the late Emerson's disassociation from political reform and his appearances as a speaker uttering "rote niceties" at public events dedicated to rehearsing Sino-U.S. formalities (64). Da articulates the theorization of influence as an ephemeral transfer of energy that shaped Emerson's thinking about both literary influence and reform (63). Continuing to examine the idea of "mutually reinforcing reform projects" energized by Sino-U.S. encounter, chapter three turns to the figure of Yung Wing: at once "the first Chinese to make a career out of Sino-U.S. relations and institutionalized cultural exchange" and a writer who "had surprisingly little to say about the cultural exchange [he] actually enjoyed" (102). Reading Yung's autobiography alongside his Chinese-language poems, Da offers a nuanced corrective...

Claiming and displaying national identity: A case study of Chinese exchange students in Russia

This study describes the emerging perceptions of national identity within the context of Covid-19 among nine Chinese exchange students in Russia Qualitative data were mainly collected from interviews, comple-mented by WeChat group discussions, moment updates, comments and repatriation reports Participants were exposed to cross-cultural contexts, their group membership (i e being a Chinese) triggered the reflec-tion on national identity Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic influenced their thinking towards how they feel about China and others Thematic findings related to the participants’ awareness of national self, which manifested through their observations about the pandemic;politics, patriotism, lifestyle, education and di-versity were discussed This study reveals a strong emotional attachment to homeland among the less stud-ied China-Russia exchange student cohort Although China’s success in combatting the Covid-19 heightened their sense of national pride, the participants were also found to critically reflect on their daily encounters and attempt to engage in social changes The study showed the pervasiveness and expansion of identity work in the study abroad setting, suggesting greater attention to be paid to the opportunity for student self-discovery and rational thinking in the tertiary education © Wei Ye, Ni’ao Deng 2020

The role of geomedia in building intercultural competence : A qualitative case study within the context of a student exchange program between Austria, Germany and China

Structured student exchange programs are known to foster intercultural competence (IC). We conceptualize IC as a construct that ranges from the individual level to the interactive cultural level, and we complement existing models of intercultural sensitivity and processes of introspection. Several factors may influence IC, such as mediatization, the ubiquity of geomedia, and global economic power shifts – in our case the rising global influence of China. In our long-term, qualitative case study on Austrian/German and Chinese exchange students, we consider geomediatization as a new socio-technological regime that influences processes of social, cultural and physical orientation. The results indicate that, at the level of student exchanges, IC is a process of self-reflection and self-development. Geomedia play a major role in this process: they promise to provide a certain authenticity of experience, and sense of independence and safety, promises that are thwarted by exchange students’ strong platform dependence and reliance on “the bubble”.

Tecnologie, autonomia e internazionalizzazione. L’italiano L2 di cinesi

The development of autonomy in language learning is a strategic element in the enhancement of the internationalisation process of universities. In the Web 2.0 society the virtual spaces of e-learning provide support for, and empowerment of, autonomous learning traditionally carried out individually in Self-Access Language Centres. Autonomous language learning is now enriched by cooperative activities in virtual communities of learning through forums, wikis and chats without limits either of space or of time. The present paper takes a critical look at an L2 autonomous learning pathway undertaken online by Chinese exchange students in a “virtual self-access”. This learning model proved to be engaging and motivating and facilitated the students’ first approach to autonomous learning.

Reading Anxiety Among Chinese Exchange Students in a Study-abroad Context

This study presents the results of an investigation into L2 reading anxiety among eight Chinese exchange students who participate in a one-year program at an American University. Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) is used as a measurement of reading anxiety. Data are also collected from semi-structured interviews, syllabus of all six specialized courses participants have taken during the academic year and their final scores. The study finds: 1) all participants experience a rather high level of reading anxiety; 2) despite such anxiety, participants perform well in all major courses; 3) underlying causes for reading anxiety include content knowledge, unpreparedness of cultural difference and general negative feeling of studying a foreign language. Based on the research findings, suggestions are given to improve the overall efficacy of such exchange program, aiming to benefit all immediate parties involved.

Mutual perceptions of Chinese and German students at a German university: stereotypes, media influence, and evidence for a negative contact hypothesis

ABSTRACTIn recent years, China and Germany have become invaluable partners in business, politics, and science. However, psychological research indicates that the countries’ large-scale affinity does not translate onto the individual level, with many Germans expressing more reservations towards China than vice versa. Previous content analyses have connected this effect to imbalances in media tonality, as German media mostly criticise Chinese politics, contrasting with idealised portrayals from the other direction. Acknowledging the particularly high number of Chinese exchange students in Germany, we investigate mutual stereotypes (both explicit and implicit) in the context of a German university, while also exploring students’ perceptions of media tonality. Despite observing mostly positive explicit stereotypes, we find that both groups strongly prefer their country of origin on an implicit level, matching their generally sparse contact in university life. Based on our results, we discuss implications for students, educators, and decision-makers in the media.

Cross-cultural differences in emotion suppression in everyday interactions.

Previous research suggests that in collectivistic cultures, people tend to suppress their emotions more than in individualistic cultures. Little research, however, has explored cross-cultural differences in emotion regulation in everyday interactions. Using a daily social interaction method, we examined whether people from collectivistic backgrounds (Chinese exchange students and immigrants from the Moluccas, Indonesia) living in the Netherlands differed from those from individualistic backgrounds (Dutch natives) in emotion suppression during everyday interactions. We also examined whether this depended on their relationship with the interaction partner(s). We found that Chinese participants suppressed positive and negative emotions more than Dutch and Moluccan participants and that this was related to differences in interdependent and independent self-construal across the samples. We also found that Chinese participants suppressed positive emotions less in interactions with close others, whereas Dutch participants suppressed negative emotions more with non-close others. No such differences were found for Moluccans. Our findings support the idea that people from collectivistic cultures suppress emotions more than those from individualistic cultures, but they also suggest that this depends on who the interaction partner is. Furthermore, they suggest that emotion suppression may change when people with collectivistic backgrounds have been raised in individualistic cultures.

Why do the Chinese learners produce the expression “de fato” in Portuguese so frequently?

The present paper aims to investigate why Brazilian teachers may have the impression that Chinese exchange students frequently produce the expression “de fato”(“in fact” or “actually” in English), which is not so commonly used among Brazilian speakers. The study was developed in four stages: 1) an analysis of the entries of “de fato” from Portuguese, Portuguese-English and Portuguese-Chinese dictionaries, and a review of previous linguistic studies on these words; 2) a compilation of two corpora in Portuguese, consisting of academic texts written by Brazilians and Chinese students; 3) a classification of “de fato” from a pragmatic point of view; 4) a contrastive analysis of the pragmatic strategy for using the expression in the two corpora. The results show that although Chinese learners more frequently produce the expression “de fato” in their academic texts, the different pragmatic strategies used in contextual communications may be the main reason for drawing the attention of native Portuguese speakers.

Linguistic and cultural learning processes of four Chinese exchange students at a women’s university in Japan

With an inter-disciplinary perspective of second language acquisition and cross-cultural adaptation, this study explores the nature of linguistically- and culturally-specific learning processes perceived by sojourners during study abroad. Methodologically, their diary entries with follow-up interviews were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Findings included two themes that emerged as key in determining and reflecting sojourners’ learning processes in the host environment: (1) attitudes towards normative or authentic language use; and (2) perceptions of traditional or exploratory identity. Furthermore, dynamic tensions were observed between these two themes, constrained by the prescriptive knowledge and skills that sojourners had developed in formal classroom instruction and learning in the home country.

How Chinese Exchange Students Adapt to Their Academic Course Learningin a US University: A Fresh Look at College English Teaching in China

This paper aims to depict the linguistic challenges that Sino-US exchange students face when they adapt to the demands of English-medium higher education in the US and learning strategies that they came up with to overcome the obstacles in their pursuit of academic learning via in-depth interviews and questionnaire. These findings are complemented by data collected from the real chats, classroom observations, and field notes of over 100 exchange students in a US university. The evidence shows that these students have been tided over the linguistic problems by a combination of learning strategies, strong motivation, diligence, collaborative efforts and resort to reference in Chinese for academic assistance. To probe into the transition period from mainly Chinese-medium courses to those conducted solely in English medium that they have experienced, this article reveals a “thick description” of how thirty exchange Chinese students adapt themselves to English-medium courses by tracking, describing and probing into influences exerted by the exchange program with the aim to revaluate the current College English curriculum prevailing in most universities or colleges in China.

Perceptions of Beauty Among Female Chinese Students in the United States and China

This pilot study compared the perceptions of beauty among Chinese women who were exchange students in the United States with Chinese women who were students in their homeland. We interviewed 19 women in China and 19 women in the United States to determine differences in responses. In accordance with the sociocultural approach and the social comparison approach, we expected Chinese women in the United States to have a be more acculturate, more frequently conclude that American women were more beautiful than Chinese women, be more likely than those studying in China to report body dissatisfaction, be more likely to dislike and desire to alter body parts that specifically reflect American beauty ideals, and express a greater desire to surgically alter their bodies. Results indicated that participants in the United States group were more likely to reflect some American beauty standards (particularly their desires to lose weight and to be taller), while maintaining those of their own culture (the importance of facial appearance), as well. Suggestions for future research and practice, particularly for mental health workers on college campuses with growing populations of Chinese exchange students, are discussed.

Othello in Estonia

Othello in Estonia Maris Peters Estonia is, despite the invasions from East and West for nearly a thousand years, virtually a mono-racial country. Although Estonia has various minorities—the largest such group is Russian—it can hardly be compared to the ethnic mix of most Western countries. The rest are likely to be either tourists, Chinese exchange students, visiting scholars, or people who are just "passing through." Before Estonians regained independence in the 1990s, which ultimately gave people a chance to travel, the most multi-racial experience Estonians had was by being moved, either voluntarily or involuntarily, around parts of the vast Soviet empire. An Estonian production of Othello, therefore, involves Estonians, themselves considered non-temperamental northerners, producing the play for the same type of cool northerners (with probably a rare exception of a visiting foreigner in the audience). Racial elements, obviously, cannot be an issue in the same way they are for a Western production;1 something else must be foregrounded. There is another element one must consider. If the vast masses of English-speaking people around the world see performing Shakespeare as their self-evident right, almost a duty of honor, all the non-native speakers have learnt to appreciate Shakespeare in their native tongue as a part of world cultural heritage that belongs to them as much as to anybody else. Estonians, like many others, perform Shakespeare in their native language simply for the joy of it. The first translations (and adaptations) at the end of the 19th century were transcribed from the German, and translations from English appeared soon after. In 1910 Shakespeare was for the first time translated into Estonian from English. Not surprisingly, the translation was of Hamlet. It was published in St. Petersburg. Translations of other plays followed. In the circles of the cultural elite of that time there was no doubt that Shakespeare should become available in the Estonian language; it was seen as shameful that so little of Shakespeare was translated. A lot of the work of disseminating Shakespeare in the first half of the twentieth century was done by Ants Oras, who translated some of Shakespeare's sonnets and eight of his plays. The beginning of the Second World War and ensuing Soviet Occupation created some setbacks in the development of Estonian Shakespeare "business." Many academics, Oras among them, fled Estonia, and others were sent to Soviet prison camps. It was not until 1959 that the seven volumes of the complete works managed [End Page 74] to reach a press. Published over 16 years, the last volume coming out in 1975, this set still remains the definitive Complete Works of Shakespeare in Estonian. The translation, though deemed too "bookish" because of its extensive notes and commentary, is still occasionally used for stage productions. Some new translations exist, commissioned by theatres for their companies. The theatre critics who grew up with the originally translated Complete Works under their pillow complain occasionally about the loss of poetry in the new translations. This situation could be altered if new translations could be published, but the Estonian publishing houses consider such projects too esoteric and expensive. Since Shakespeare is produced in translation, he cannot be put on stage for the sake of his poetry. The new purpose-made translations usually cater for the needs of a particular production, stressing elements that support the reading the director wishes to apply. It allows the language that people hear from the stage to be less strained (the iambic pentameter is not natural to Estonian) and closer to their everyday speech. Those who are used to hearing their Shakespeare in English may ask why Estonians should produce him at all, and particularly why they should produce Othello when it must, apparently, be robbed of some of its most important, perhaps essential, elements. Shakespeare has become so deeply embedded in Estonian culture that at present it would extremely awkward removing him from the local theatrical scene: as early as 1939 the special issue of magazine Teater (Theatre), dedicated to Shakespeare, stated that he was more closely connected to Estonian theatre than any other classical author. Shakespeare has remained the touchstone by which the artistic ripeness of a...

Longitudinal Effects of Informal Language in Formal L2 Instruction

This study investigates the longitudinal effects of informal language contact on formally instructed L2 learners through multiple approaches which include quantitative and qualitative data sources. It focuses on the use of the aspect markers –te iru and –te ru (the reduced form of –te iru) in Japanese oral discourse by Chinese exchange students (NNSs). The quantitative data for conversational tasks was transcribed and analyzed by Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES), and the frequency of occurrence and variation of aspect markers were compared with those of Japanese university students (NSs). Qualitative data from follow-up interviews and pre- and postsurveys was also analyzed. The findings were that: a) NSs used –te ru far more frequently and with more variation than –te iru; and b) NNSs used –te ru less than –te iru over a period of one year. However, the use of –te ru steadily increased with longer stays in Japan. The implications of the results for sociolinguistic theories are also discussed. 本研究は、言語接触の観点から、本国でのフォーマルな日本語学習から日本というインフォーマルな日本語環境に接触した外国人留学生を対象に、アスペクト変化について、縦断的に調査したものである。具体的には、談話資料、フォローアップ・インタビューおよびサーベイの結果を複合アプローチを用いて分析した。談話分析に関しては、CHILDESを使用し、同世代の日本人大学生と比較した。その結果、明らかになったことは、次の通りである。 ⑴母語話者の発話では、頻度および領域の両面において、「テル」が「テイル」を凌駕している。⑵非母語話者の発話では、「テル」より「テイル」が多用されているが、滞日期間が長くなるにつれて、「テル」の使用が増える傾向にある。

Mediated marriage: internet matchmaking in provincial Russia

were corresponding with American, Western European and Australian men who had obtained their addresses through internet matchmaking agencies. Sometimes they asked me to translate difficult passages, such as one in which an American man wrote that he had walked by ‘Victoria’s Secret’ in the ‘mall’ and wanted to know his friend’s ‘measurements’ in order to buy her a present there. Another acquaintance, the 20-year-old son of one of my colleagues, showed me photographs taken on a summer trip to the US, which included several pictures of suburban couples in their kitchens or in front of their cars. After working at a summer camp, he had been able to travel around the Midwest by visiting several female relatives and friends of his family who had married Americans, and was obviously very favourably impressed with the conditions in which he found them living. I seldom heard people in Yoshkar-Ola discuss the issues that I, having lived and studied in Frankfurt-on-Main, associated with the mail-order bride business: women abused and forced into prostitution, locked into brothels or prevented by immigration laws from getting a divorce. In Yoshkar-Ola internet matchmaking agencies were a ubiquitous presence, 2 and many women considered the possibility of looking for a husband abroad as one potential way of coping with post-socialist life. During the year I worked at Mari State University three students in the foreign language department married men from the US or Mexico, with the expressed approval of older faculty members. The agencies also provided a welcome source of income to people with foreign-language skills. Several of my students and colleagues worked for them

The Hungarian Revolution and the Hundred Flowers Campaign

In the years 1955–56, when it had already become evident that the star of the Stalinist Rákosi-Gerö clique was on the wane in Hungary, Ho Te-ch'ing was the Chinese Ambassador in Budapest. It soon became apparent that he was quietly establishing connexions with the opposition. Not only did he have free access to the highest Party circles and maintained regular contact with the Foreign Ministry (as could be expected of a Party and state representative) but the Chinese Embassy sponsored an extensive intelligence apparatus and was generally regarded as the best informed foreign post in the Hungarian capital. The Cultural Attaché, who spoke Hungarian fluently, maintained contact with Hungarian intellectuals. At the same time, correspondents of the New China News Agency and the Chinese exchange students in Budapest reported to the Ambassador on the activities of the revolutionary Petöfi Circle and the universities. The Ambassador himself travelled widely in the country, becoming acquainted with the local Party secretaries, councilmen and other leaders in the towns and villages. He was also prominent in the social life of the Hungarian capital; his two cooks and staff providing a lavish Oriental touch. While the Soviet Embassy invited Hungarian Stakhanovists (elite workers) to its receptions, Ho was more interested in entertaining leading writers, artists, economists and newspapermen, even those who were not outspoken supporters of the regime.