Speaking for myself, I studied in Hong Kong for a year during graduate school, and when I came back I found that I got a lot more out of what I read.
以我自己來說，我在研究所時，抽了一年到香港新亞書院，和一群中國同學共度一年；再回到劍橋時，有實際的經驗做印證，突然覺得看起書來心得多多了。