China Internship Program with CRCC Asia

I had an amazing and unforgettable time in China. I was able to gain priceless experience in a professional work environment while also immersing myself into Chinese culture. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to live and work abroad and it will have a great impact on your professional and personal development. The CRCC team were extremely helpful from Day 1 and I felt comfortable and safe knowing they were there to support me at work and at home. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone considering it.

I cannot overstate how much I recommend applying for this internship – I loved every second of mine! I worked for an educational NGO in Beijing, and fulfilled two of my greatest career ambitions: working abroad and working within the charity sector. Getting this experience was invaluable to me, and I hope to continue working abroad in this sector, and hopefully even in Beijing again!

Exploring the endless things Beijing has on offer has also been incredible. Every evening and weekend was filled with visiting a new site, restaurant, museum or bar. Being able to immerse myself in a new culture like this, as someone working in the city, rather than as a quickly visiting tourist, is a once-in-a-life-time-opportunity that I feel so lucky to have experienced.

I had such a fun time in Beijing, if you are into culture then this is definitely the city for you. Everything you get to see comes at a really reasonable cost and theres student discounts on most of the attractions.
My internship for the most part was very nice, I worked in a lovely firm that were really flexible with days off. I did not see much of my supervisors and this was not one of the perks however if we emailed them they were very quick to reply to us.
The projects we were given were fun and our clients are some of the largest corporations in China and the United States which was really cool.
When reviewing CRCC, I think the pre departure although when the information was received was useful, we only received our pre departure pack 3 days before we flew which was not ideal. The team in Beijing are led by a very competent able woman however the team underneath her are not always as organised. I feel as though some of the activities could be put at a better time, and some of the hidden costs were not ideal.
I would recommend the programme to anyone I had a fabulous time however I did not know I would be paying for my own sim and having to pay big electric and water bills when I was told on my scholarship would cover my accommodation. I also think the community and cultural events could be better organised I would have liked to have been told I had to make my own way there and back for some of them.
would recommend though had a great summer.

Beijing was very cool and I was placed in a great company with a heavy workload. The apartments were very nice and in a good part of the city, but a little far from the closest subway. CRCC was not very organized and had embarrassing response time to their WeChat contact, and after the first week they basically left us alone. They did not really provide anything for us except for our internship placement, the first introduction week of activities, and a couple of cultural activities along the way that were not very exciting and very early in the morning. Their contact with the internees was very poor and if there was an emergency I would be worried about being able to reach them. CRCC made us take mandatory Mandarin classes which originally sounded fun, but the classrooms were a 45 minute commute from the apartments which is tough after a long day at work. Also the classes only had one level (beginner), so for someone who knows a decent amount of Chinese it was very painful to sit through them for an hour and a half twice a week. Overall, Beijing and my internship was cool but I do not think I would recommend CRCC at the price I paid for it.

My experience on the CRCC Asia china internship was incredible! I learnt so much both professionally and personally. I enjoyed being out of my comfort zone: I was in a completely foreign country, not being able to speak the language or have experience in the professional environment and yet I was able to adapt really well and enjoy my time there. It's a very rewarding feeling.

The staff were also really accommodating. We had organised events which allowed us to really make the most of our time, for example learning wushu, getting weekly Mandarin lessons and attending a Chinese business seminar.

I'd definitely recommend this programme to those who wish not only to build their CV but to challenge themselves personally. It was my first but definitely not my last trip to China!

I didn't really know what to expect when coming to Beijing, but despite this, the city was very different from what I imagined. When we first arrived CRCC full on threw us in the deep end by taking us to a restaurant by the hotel and then just leaving us there (with no idea of how to order, how to pay, or how to get back to the accommodation). I feel like this first night could've been planned better).
In regards to sim cards, we were given the option to purchase unlimited data, which many of us did, but we were not told by CRCC that this could not be used until the 1st of the month (three days from when we got the sim card) so we all started using our data, but as a result many people had issues with their sim cards as they had gone over the limit given for those three days, despite us not being told that there was a limit. Also collecting the sim cards was a long process and I think CRCC could find a better way to sort this out as we were sat in the phone shop for over two hours with only 12 of us in need of a sim.
The 798 art district is an amazing place to live, so top marks to CRCC for location of the accommodation there (even though it then is quite far out from the rest of Beijing - at least an hour travel to any of the major tourist attractions). My only issue with CRCC is the amount of free time they take up. Between mandatory mandarin sessions (which were not very helpful, the syllabus was very sporadic and we were not learning things that would help us - there is also only so much you can learn in 3 lessons), mandatory drop in sessions which were at an inconvenient time which took up the whole evening for a five minute chat that could've easily been done over WeChat and the cultural events being on weekends, we found that between working and these CRCC commitments, we struggled to fit everything in to the time that we had in the city (also down to how long it took to get to places from the accommodation).
My internship was okay. My supervisors met me on the first day and that was it. They never checked in with work that I was doing and I, along with my fellow intern were basically helped by a fellow intern who was only 18. The work at the firm was boring and was nothing like what I had descried to CRCC as to what I wanted to do.
Over all my experience in Beijing was amazing down to the friends that I made and the things that I did in my spare time, as opposed to the actual internship.

It is not unusual for students to graduate University feeling ‘lost’ and overwhelmed. I was no different. I wanted to obtain more legal work experience and I saw this opportunity at my University's career fairs and I decided to apply for the Beijing programme. It was the best decision of my life, as now I am sure of what I want to do.

In October 2018, I started my programme. I was mesmerised by the county. China is an amazing country, with such a developed economy and vibrant culture! There is something for everyone in Beijing, from clubs, opera, fine dining and historical places!

The CRCC Asia programme was fantastic and I recommend it to everyone. The accommodation provided was at a very high standard, in a nice area, close to transportation, supermarkets and even provided a gym and swimming pool.

The CRCC Asia team did a great job matching me to the right company! I was able to work for a corporate law firm in a securities department! It was a new area of law and I was very exited! I was able to learn from the most aspirational female leaders in the legal industry!

Once a week, we had Mandarin classes, where we had the opportunity to develop our Mandarin language skills. In addition, we also had many cultural events, community events and business seminars organised by CRCC Asia.

I loved this experience so much, that I began looking for another internship in Beijing and I was able to obtain an internship at the Embassy! Moreover, after adding this experience to my LinkedIn profile, I already had many job offers from all over the world!

I strongly recommend this China internship programme as it has allowed me to gain international work experience, build up an international network of contacts, and even learn a new language in the process, which will support my goal of becoming a successful international female lawyer.

In the Summer of 2018 I spent a month working at Jingshi Law Firm in Beijing; and it was such an incredibly interesting and rewarding experience. It was exactly the type of firm I was looking for when I applied through CRCC Asia, so I was very grateful to have the chance to work there.

I thoroughly enjoyed going into work every day (even if it did mean leaving the great accommodation we were in!) and I found that I was assigned much more responsibility and tasks than I imagined considering I am not a Law student, which was fantastic.

Whilst I am by no means a linguist, and probably never will be, the optional Mandarin lessons provided by CRCC were not only useful and informative, but also rather entertaining.

I think my internship in Beijing was extremely rewarding and worthwhile, as I have gained a huge amount of knowledge, not only about the legal sector, but also about business and culture in China. This experience will benefit me greatly in applying for jobs in the future, as it should make my CV and applications stand out!