The problem this creates, of course, is that it attracts swarms of foreigners. A foreigner who recently asked if he could observe a class was basically laughed at and told, in essence, that he could fork over some money first. Located near Xizhimen north of the Beijing Zoo, this is one of five schools run by the Ministry of Railways to churn out the engineers who run the country's rail and highway systems. Many of the foreigners at NJU are African or Middle Eastern students sponsored by the Chinese government to study engineering or computer science. Some have been here five years or more.
Teachers are friendly and willing to stay after class to answer questions.
The rooms are spare and chilly, with fluorescent lights and cement floors. These Spartan accommodations are offset by a foreign experts' building which until recently served as a hotel. Right across the street from Bei Wei, and built in the same drab grey-brick style. Students here say the focus is overwhelmingly on learning characters, with a little conversational practice thrown in as an afterthought. The school separates Asian and non-Asian students, but some Westerners enrolled there said the pace was uncomfortably fast even so.