Exchange student got stuck in China during lockdown
Thamsanqa Platyi's dream of studying in China turned sour when his group became stuck indoors during the country's Covid-19 lockdown.
It’s an amazing opportunity and a dream for many to receive an invitation to study abroad.
It’s less ideal if this moment came just before Covid-19 struck the world for the first time, especially in China where the virus was first reported. This was Thamsanqa Platyi’s fate earlier this year.
Back in 2018, while studying at the Westcol Randfontein campus, he was asked if he’d like to join their internship exchange programme and travel to the Orient to continue his studies. “It was very hot when we landed,” Thamsanqa laughed, “But the Chinese are very welcoming. I was surprised when we got there. They would just take out their phones and take photos with us.”
Thamsanqa studied e-commerce at the Chongqing Business Vocational College in the Shapingba district, adding to his marketing studies back in South Africa.
“They are so much more advanced. You buy everything online with Alipay.”
During China’s lockdown, Thamsanqa and his 24 co-travellers were locked inside their dormitory all day and night, and online shopping became the only way they could get anything from outside.
“It was a bit scary,” he said as he thought back to the start of the pandemic.
We were far from home and didn’t know what was going to happen. But the Chinese were so careful. They came to the dormitory to take our temperature every day and brought us food. You were locked in all day. It was so boring,” he noted, shaking his head.
In the end, he admitted that he enjoyed every minute of the experience and after a while he didn’t want to come back.
“They don’t speak any English, only Chinese Mandarin. If I wanted to get directions, I just asked via Google translate and show the person.” He was especially shocked by the type of food available on the street.
“What a disaster! They only eat rice, noodles and chicken. They eat dog and other stuff. I didn’t try any of that! I just ate a lot of McDonald’s and KFC”. Right now, Thamsanqa is considering the next few steps in his life, deciding between finding a job in e-commerce or starting his own e-commerce business.
“There’s a huge gap between China and South Africa that I think I can penetrate. I’d need equipment and funds, but I can even start my own business with my phone.”
