What Is Generation UK?
Generation UK was launched by the British Council in 2013. It aims to help UK students and graduates to boost their employability, enhance their long-term job prospects and develop a global mindset through study and work experience opportunities in China. Christian Elliot was a participant of Generation UK and he was able to give an amazing Generation UK review.Ā
The Pandemic causes difficulties in travelling but this programme was entirely online. It was a great experience for him because it allowed Christian to āescapeā to day-to-day life in Birmingham. This experience allowed him to meet new people and boost his confidence in speaking Chinese.
Generation UK Review
We sat down with one of the participants, Christian Elliot from the University of Birmingham, who participated in Generation UK and he gave his opinion about the programme.Ā
Positive Aspects of Generation UKĀ
- Chinese people know how to motivate people
- Working in Chinese in a companyĀ
- Learn full-time the language
- Translation on the company website
Negative Aspects of Generation UKĀ
- Cultural immersion is more difficult when the internship is remote
- Productivity is difficult when working in different time zones
Note: Generation UK is normally an in-person internship based in China. Unfortunately, the programme was reluctantly moved online during the Covid-19 pandemic but we hope that it will return to an in-person programme as soon as possible.Ā
Generation UK FAQ’s
Generation UK Language Class Experience: Taiwan
Elliot was taking a class in Mandarin with a teacher called Wang Chung Ling. She was a great teacher who made the course engaging and fun to attend.
Features of the language classes:
- No textbooks
- A lot of talkingĀ Ā
- Discussion based on relevant content
Is Generation UK Worth It?Ā
Overall, Generation UK was a positive experience. Elliot felt very supported and he encouraged Pagoda to keep the programme going.
Goodbye, Zhuhai
Hi all, this is my last blog post with InternChina. My time in Zhuhai has come to an end, for now. It’s been a great experience, and one that’s taught me a lot.
My last few weeks in China have been fun and busy. I went to Danxia Mountain, in Shaoguan, on a weekend trip with InternChina. The mountain is well-known for it’s ‘male rock’ – so called for obvious reasons.

The Shaoguan area has some of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. Pictures just don’t do it justice, but here’s one anyway:

Before heading back to the UK, I went on a business trip to Shanghai for a few days, which was cool. Shanghai is a massive metropolis. The cold and wet weather more closely resembled my natural habitat than the subtropical climate of Zhuhai.

I’ll be sad to leave, but I’ve made great memories here. I am grateful to the British Council for awarding me a place on their Generation UK scheme. Coming to China has been a life-changing experience. I would also like to thank my boss, colleagues, and everyone on the InternChina team for their support and hard work. I’ll miss my new friends, but I’ll be sure to stay in touch.
My internship experience has made me realise that China is not a whole world away – it’s more similar than I thought. At the same time, it has also given me a greater appreciation of the differences between our cultures.
My biggest obstacle before coming here was believing that China was too different and too distant, therefore I kept putting it off. However, with these things in mind and seeing this country for myself, I look forward to coming back to China in the future.

For your chance to Ā fall in love with China and experience an internship of a lifetime apply here!

Tell us a little about yourself/ Tell us about your internship, your position
Overall the guys in the office are pretty like-minded with the interns so they pretty much know what the essentials are for settling into the groove of working here. Also seeing as they’ve been in Zhuhai for a while, they know the best spots for going out, food, drinking etc. which has also been really useful as finding that information can be tough for a non-Chinese speakers.
Ni hao, everyone. In this blog post, I’ll write a bit about how lifeās going in Zhuhai.
I’ve been pretty busy since my last article, and it’s true what everyone’s been telling me – time really does fly, here. I can’t believe that it’s already been three weeks!
Last week, I said goodbye to my flatmate, Rob. It was great to get to know him and he’s a cool guy.

My internshipās been going well. I’m working in a small team for an American company. My colleagues are all nice and interesting people. I like the fact that most of my co-workers are Chinese. This way, I get to learn more about Chinese culture. They also know all the best places to eat!
On the weekend, I went to my Chinese friend’s dinner party. The food was delicious – Chinese hot pot with an assortment of veggies, seafood and meat, not to mention a generous helping of beverages. It was really fun and I was surrounded by excellent company.

The next day, I went on a Santa bar crawl. As a westerner, I already stuck out like a sore thumb. But as a Santa-Clause-dressed westerner, it’s fair to say that I turned more heads than usual. After the last bar, we went to a club called MiuMiu. I can now tick ‘stroll up in a club dressed as Santa’ off of my list of things to do before I die.
Sunday was a relaxing day out with my Chinese friends. We had some spicy Sichuan food for lunch, went to the park, walked along the coast and saw the famous Zhuhai Fisher Lady. After this, we had more tasty seafood for dinner.

It’s been a great experience so far. I realise that I’ve mainly talked about food in this article. Well, I make no apologies. It’s worth coming to China just for that!
I do miss loved ones back home, but thanks to technology, it’s easy to keep in touch. Making the effort to meet new people here has helped, and the friends I’ve made have been very good at making me feel at home.
If you’d like to meet Rob and enjoy the same experience, apply now!
Hi, all! My name is Robbie and Iām a new intern in Zhuhai. Iāve been here for just under two weeks, and Iāll be staying till late January. Iāll post regular updates on how Iām getting on in China. In this article, Iāll write a bit about myself, what brings me to China, and my experience so far.
First off, a little about myself. Iām from the UK, and Iāve been fortunate to grow up with an international background, having previously lived in the USA for several years and in France for a year. I graduated in the summer from the University of Leicester, where I studied Management Studies and Economics with a year abroad in Denmark. I had great time at university, and I hope to always be a student at heart. Iām a food-lover, and not to brag, but I can make the best blueberry pancakes in the world. I enjoy travelling, meeting new people, learning about different cultures, and staying fit.
I applied to the British Council Generation UK programme run by InternChina, because I wanted to do something different after I graduated, gain some more international experience, and Iāve always wanted to go to China. These three reasons combined made InternChina the perfect choice for me. On top of this, my internship is in the financial industry, which is an area that I am exploring as a future career path. This will provide me with a valuable āfoot in the doorā.

As for my experience so far, itās been a pretty wild ride. For the most part, my journey over went smoothly, although I didnāt manage to get much sleep on the long-haul flight to Hong Kong thanks to the constant slamming of the lavatory doors, one of which only occasionally flung open so wide as to hit me in the arm. Not to mention the chorus of endless flushing. However, I did see the funny side ā an attitude which has already served me well during my short stay, here.

After two flights and a short ferry ride, and a day of what felt like fading into and out of consciousness, I arrived in a hot and sunny Zhuhai ā a pleasant change from wet and windy UK ā where I was met by Janice from Intern China, who helped me with some of the basics and took me to my apartment, which Iām sharing with two other interns.
Never having been to Asia before, the culture shock is real. But itās surprising how quickly Iāve gotten used to things that would seem strange back home, such as the chaotic traffic that amazes me how I havenāt witnessed or been involved in a horrific accident, yet, and the loud throat-clearing noises and spitting, as well as the lack of adherence to what is a sacred institution in Britain ā queuing. However, I donāt want to paint a bad picture of China. In fact, I have met plenty of friendly and helpful people here, they have a beautiful culture, and the people are similar in many ways. Being here for such a short time has already made me more open-minded.
As well as the culture shock that Iāve mentioned, there are a number of simple things that I have found to be challenging, such as navigation, using public transportation and buying food. Most of the difficulty is down to the language barrier, where few people speak English. I started self-studying a little bit of Mandarin before I came, and my limited knowledge of a few words has been a big help in a number of situations.
Another challenge that comes from that food has been food poisoning, which hopefully wonāt be a common occurrence. The Chinese do seem to have iron stomachs. This is one thing that may take me a while to develop!
Iām really enjoying myself so far. Itās been tough at times, but Iām aware that difficult experiences are valuable. And on a brighter note, itās really easy to make friends here, probably because all of the international people realise the challenges that others face and understand that weāre all together in the same boat. I have also made friends with a number of Chinese people, who are very fun and outgoing. Iām having a great adventure in China ā one that I wonāt ever forget
If you’d like to get to know Robbie and experience the real China, apply now!
Calling All UK Students – GenerationUK Programme
Weāre delighted to be working with the British Council China as part of the Generation UK campaign.
The initiative aims to encourage and support more young people from the UK to gain international experience in China. The Generation UK campaign will provide funding for our 2 month placements in the sectors we have available – see www.internchina.com/programmes/internships. Funding is available to UK citizens (British passport holders, including Irish passport holders for Northern Irish domiciled) enrolled at a UK university or a recent graduate from a UK university at the time of application. The British Council aims for over 15,000 UK students to participate in a study abroad placement by 2016, so thereās never been a better time to apply!

Here at InternChina, we have placed in excess of 1000 students in China over the past seven years with companies in industries from IT to Education and Finance to Photography. Because of our new UK office in Manchester, weāve built strong links with all the surrounding universities, as well as those further afield.
Former Intern and MMU Student Joseph Fry left this comment after being placed in China through us – āit would have taken three years to accumulate the professional experience in the UK which I was able to accrue within 3 months in Chinaā.
www.youtube.com/embed/e2MTSHnctW0
The British Councilās āGeneration UKā initiative indicates how highly valued work experience in China is, and the wide-spread enthusiasm behind the scheme means more UK residents can take advantage of the internships we offer. To discover if youāre eligible, head to www.internchina.com/generationuk for full T&Cās and the application process.
For more information you can either email our team at: info@internchina.com or call our Manchester office on +44 (0)161 8188823.