Extra credit | Cao Lisan

Editor's note: Cao Lisan, 28, works for China National Petroleum Corp at its branch in Cangzhou, Hebei province.

I started attending lectures in Beijing in early 2011. At that time, I'd just gained a master's degree and had been working for a couple of months.

I realized the knowledge I had from college was far from adequate, either for work or for my personal life. So I decided to continue my studies.

Most people may think you should just read books to glean wisdom, knowledge and insight from the authors. I agree, but I also believe lectures by professors or experts in a field are a more advanced way of learning. What's more, instead of a book, which is a silent teacher, I could see speakers in the flesh.

I made up my mind to go to Beijing to attend lectures, as the city is the political, economic and cultural center of the country, and there are so many prestigious universities and resources there.

I work in Cangzhou, which is not far from Beijing, so I often take a high-speed train on a Friday night, attend two or more lectures at Tsinghua or Peking universities over the weekend, and take a train home on Sunday.

Each time, it costs 500 to 1,000 yuan ($82 to $164) in train fares, meals and accommodation.

People perhaps won't understand why I spend so much money on attending lectures in another city, but values vary. Some spend lots of money to get together with friends; others buy books or watch movies. I like to spend my money attending lectures.

Although my major in college was measurement technology and instruments, I'm now interested in lectures on economics, management and Chinese traditional culture.

You can't imagine how much I gain from them.

For example, during a lecture at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, the professor asked attendees to come up with ways to improve profit at a hotel. Most of us could only give the same one or two methods, such as to raise the price of rooms and reduce costs. But the professor gave many other options.

Lectures such as this one inspire me. They make me see how we can perceive things in more ways than one. Similarly, we can always find more than one solution for a problem we encounter in life or work.

Cao Lisan was talking to China Daily reporter Zhao Xinying.

(China Daily USA 08/14/2013 page6)