Crossing the Straits Connection: Taiwanese Students in Lanzhou University – Playing in Bands and Preparing for Finals Stressfully
Before attending Lanzhou University in the city of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, Chen Heping, who was born and grew up in Taoyuan City, Taiwan Province, had never been to northwest China. His first trip to the mainland was a trip to Shanghai Disneyland with his family in April last year.
Chen Heping’s attendance at Lanzhou University was not too unexpected as his family frequently maintained contact with mainland China due to work reasons, and he was more knowledgeable about the mainland than his peers. Therefore, when it came to applying for university, attending a good university in the mainland was one of Chen Heping’s important choices.
Everything in Lanzhou was very new to Chen Heping, and there were many things that he was not accustomed to. For instance, compared to the warm and humid climate of Taiwan, the northwest China’s climate is more distinct with colder and drier weather. However, the cold weather also has its own unique charm. Last winter, Chen Heping saw his first heavy snowfall in Lanzhou, and he reminisced about his experience, “I was so excited.”
As a freshman, Chen Heping participated in military training and found it quite interesting.
Besides the climate, Chen Heping has gradually adapted to the spicy and salty diet of the northwest China, which is quite different from Taiwan’s cuisine. Over the past semester, he has unexpectedly developed a liking for hand-pulled羊肉 (a traditional northwest delicacy) and grilled mutton skewers. He often indulges in these two dishes. The spicy hot pot from the school cafeteria is also one of his favorite dishes, and he has become accustomed to both spicy and mild flavors.
Gansu is vast, spanning over 1600 kilometers from east to west. When Chen Heping’s parents traveled thousands of miles from the other side of the Taiwan Strait to send him to study in Lanzhou last year, they also took the opportunity to visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform in the Hexi Corridor. Chen Heping recalled seeing such vast landscapes for the first time and said, “It was truly impressive.”
Chen Heping quickly adapted to and integrated into the campus life at Lanzhou University. Last year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he performed with his band in a bar.
When he entered university, Chen Heping brought his bass guitar with him. He was soon approached by members of the school’s music band who invited him to join after discovering that he could play the bass. At the welcome party of the university, Chen Heping became the bassist of the band and performed “The Hero” by Jay Chou along with other students on “My Motherland and Me”.
Over the past semester, Chen Heping has found many hobbies that are unique to him. Besides participating in band activities, he enjoys shopping in Lanzhou as “the prices in Taiwan are much higher than those in Lanzhou,” he explained.
Recently, Chen Heping happily shared his newly pierced ears on his social media account. It was on New Year’s Eve when he decided to make a change to his appearance and got several ear piercings at a shop that he liked. In his social media post, he described his ear piercings as “the first gift of 2025.”
In Chen Heping’s view, mainland Chinese students work hard and spend more time on their studies than their Taiwanese peers do on entertainment. Because of this, Chen Heping who is studying electronic information at Lanzhou University feels pressure from his studies as well. As the first semester has ended with exams approaching, Chen Heping said that he starts missing home more as he thinks about the exam. He missed his grandmother’s pork rice dish and a certain type of snack called “Guai Guai” (a type of rice-based snack with filling). If people have the opportunity to visit Taiwan, Chen Heping would recommend visiting Taipei 101 as well as experiencing the unique ethnic culture of Hualien County in Taiwan Province. As for his future plans at Lanzhou University, Chen Heping has set small goals: to excel in his studies, learn foreign languages well and continue pursuing graduate studies thereupon graduating from university as a bachelor.