Name and surname: Aris de Bruin E-mail adress: Ad

Final report
I stayed abroad via: Fonds Studiepunten Buiten Nederland (FSBN)
Name and surname: Aris de Bruin
E-mail adress: A.d.Bruin@student.tue.nl
Department: Technology Management, Industrial Engineering and Management Science
Contact person TU/e: dr.ir. A.J.D. Lambert
Subject of your practical training abroad: analysis and improvement suggestions for the monitoring of
the quality system for components in the production area
Period of stay: November 23 2004 till March 13 2005
Name company abroad: Changchun Hella Automotive Lighting (HCL)
City and country: Changchun, P.R. China
1. Preparation and financial matters
About one month before my departure I went to the embassy of China in The Hague to apply for a visa
(two-entry, three months: EUR 64,-). Also I got my vaccinations around that time (around EUR 250,-).
Another issue to arrange is the insurance. I just kept my health insurance and continuous travel
insurance that is also valid for students going abroad for a longer time for an internship. A Lonely
Planet and a simple Chinese dictionary are very suitable to prepare for the culture differences and to
learn some basic Chinese. Reading about culture before you go to China is really necessary because it
will help you very much in life and communication with Chinese people and understanding their
habits.
2. Accommodation
The accommodation was a hotel arranged by the company including breakfast. The hotel was a five
minutes walk from the company, so this was great.
3. Language and culture
Speaking English is a real problem in (this part of) China, not so many people speak English and many
Chinese people have problems with pronunciation of English. This is not surprising because Chinese is
totally different from western languages. But also Chinese is very difficult to learn: Chinese characters
are very hard to master and the Chinese language makes use of five different tones for letters. So
pronounce a street name a little wrong and the taxi driver does not understand were to go…Within the
company I needed a lot of help for translation of interviews and documents but fortunately everybody
was willing to help.
Also the culture in China is very different from western cultures. Christian traditions do not exist in
China so Chinese people only celebrate Christmas because western people do so and because of
commercial reasons. Officially, China is a communistic country although this is often not noticeable
because China is also a very capitalistic country with a lot of attention for money.
4. Free time and traveling
After work we went to a restaurant and sometimes to a bar to drink something. In the weekend we
strolled around in the city, visited some cultural sights, went skiing and in the evening went to a bar.
During the Christmas and New Year holiday we visit Xi’an, a cultural city in the middle of China.
During the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holiday I made a trip of two weeks to Beijing, a twoday
boat trip down the Yangtze River, a wonderful nature reserve and Shanghai. Especially the twoweek
holiday was great because I saw how different China can be regarding scenic beauty and how the
wealth is divided in this enormous country.
5. Contents of your project abroad
My project was to analyze the monitoring of the quality system. Within the company certain critical
components were produced using injection-moulding machines. Scrap happening during the production

process is a very important issue, so data about scrap is recorded by operators, further processed by
office people and analyzed by the management. The problem is that this data is often not so accurate
and my project was to analyze how accurate the system was and to give improvement suggestions.
6. What was your best experience?
Although I almost always had good experiences in China, the best thing about China is really the
service offered everywhere. In restaurants, bars, supermarkets, hotels, hair cutters et cetera are so many
employees to help you with everything and so fast you can hardly imagine. This makes life really
easier and more comfortable. Another nice experience is that Chinese people are very friendly and
hospitable.
7. What was your worst experience?
Maybe one disadvantage of China is that after a while you could be tired of people speaking to you
only to improve their oral English. If their English is already at a pretty high level it is not a big
problem, but when people only know a few words and have problems with pronunciation it could be
tiring to you.
8. Other(s)
China is a very interesting country and everyday you will experience new aspects of this country and
its residents. This makes it impossible to write down every experience; the only way to really
understand China is to go there!