The cheapest city to study ?

[Chris Two Times]

I was in Kaifeng, Henan this weekend visiting Henan University. The main part of the campus (Minglunjie campus--main campus) is actually very aesthetic with a classical style--very appealing.

 

The last time I checked (September 2015?), I noted a tuition of 11,000 RMB was listed to study there for a year. Kaifeng seems to be a pretty inexpensive place for day-to-day expenses, flagfall for cabs was just 5 kuai. Again, I don't know what the quality of the Chinese language programs for foreigners is there though, something to check out.

 

Just adding this to the list of possibilities.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[eion_padraig]

I flew into Guiyang last Fall (Sept 2014) and the group I was with left the city fairly quickly for a rural communities with Miao (Hmong) and Dai people a few hours away. The country side is beautiful a few hours away. Guiyang does seem very rough. You'd have a pretty authentic China experience there. If you have time to travel you could also get to some pretty cool places in Yunnan province without much difficultly.

[Sem]

Always helpful, guys
Guiyang at large seems awesome, and like you guys said, likely one of the most authentic Chinese experiences one can get. One thing that I'm worried, though, is the local dialect. If it's a lot different from Standard Mandarin, I think I'm not gonna fare that great, haha.

I've checked Kaifeng, and so far, it seems one of the best options, not only because of price, but also because it seems filled with traditional architecture and because as a Buddhist, there are a lot of interesting things to see in Henan, like White Horse Temple and the Buddha at Lushan. But there's still some time to make this decision, so I'm going to weigh every possible pro and con I possibly can.

Thanks a lot for the info!

[Chris Two Times]

eion_padraig,

 

I agree. There is something about the idea of studying in Guiyang for a year and just getting "off the beaten path" and having a unique experience for the year. Guiyang and Guizhou are definitely special places that can serve up something that no other slice of China could serve up (haha! that could be said about many places in China though).

 

I do think studying in Guiyang, Guizhou at GuiDa or GNU could warrant a further look...or get off the beaten path and study in a place like Kaili at their college there--that would be a heckuva thing.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

Sem,

 

There does seem to be a lot of sites to check out in Kaifeng and throughout Henan. I was surprised by this as I don't hear much about Henan. I want to return there as a tourist in the very near future. I am also curious about Zhengzhou--it seems to be an up-and-coming provincial capital/second-tier city.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

Sem,

 

You are right though, Guiyanghua/Guizhouhua may be difficult to slog through, but then again so may the local dialect in Kaifeng! Good luck with it all! I think wherever you end up will be a good place.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Sem]

Chris Two Times,

One thing that isn't very clear when I check the universities' websites or CSC's website is accomodation fees. The program itself is pretty straightforward, since you already have a fixed duration for each program and the associated cost. But when it comes to accomodation, Henan University charges 12000 RMB for a single room. Is that for a semester? A year? I don't know. Similarly, the fee for a single room in Guizhou University is 1000 RMB. Is that a month? A semester (hopefully)? A year (a guy can dream, eh)?

PS: Accomodations seem to be better at Guiyang, because of the private bathroom.

Cheers!

[Chris Two Times]

Sem,

 

I am finding that to be unclear to me as well. An "attractive" price is listed but then I immediately think: "is that for a week, a month, a semester, a year...a day?!?" It's something that I would inquire about directly with the university in question.

 

I want to say that the 1000RMB is per month at Guida, and the 12,000RMB is for the year at Henan Daxue. Again though, I want to say that because it's not clear to me either, I am guessing those prices for those time frames. I would contact the source to confirm to avoid any unpleasant spikes to your budgeting and to see how available housing would be in the first place.

 

Despite a possible higher cost, I too, would be most interested in living in university housing. The price and quality of university housing on offer is definitely part of my serious considerations when choosing a program.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Sem]

Chris Two Times,

I guessed that as well! It's a shame about the no private bathroom in Kaifeng, though. The city piqued my interest the most (because of the combination of cheap price, nice-looking 大学, traditional architecture and important buddhist sites). Living in the university proper would be very convenient, but is it cheaper to live off campus? How hard would it be to go apartment hunting?

Cheers! (and sorry I have so many questions, haha)
Sem

[obscuritea]

Regarding accommodation prices-

 

When I was at Xiamen University the fee for international dorms was only 2000 yuan for the whole year, plus 1000 as a deposit but you get it back at the end. Each dorm room had 4 bedrooms (each with an A.C. unit and balcony) with 2 people to a room, a living room, and a private bathroom with 2 stalls each including a toilet and shower. Xiamen isn't even a particularly cheap city, to my knowledge, so if you're willing to share a dorm room with at least one person, you should be able to save a lot.

[Chris Two Times]

obscuritea,

 

I have come across that 2000 RMB figure for the year as well and I thought "woah!" when I saw it. I am pretty sold on having a single room in a university dormitory, but seriously, such a housing deal would make me reconsider and just suck it up and take the double. If there were a common kitchen down the hall that would allow me to cook all my meals, then that 2,000 for a year of housing makes the tuition of 26,000 per year (one of the most expensive tuition requirements for a year of language study on the Mainland?!?) at Xiamen Daxue much more palatable. Twenty-eight grand for tuition + housing makes it not so bad; Beijing universities could end up being twice as much for tuition + housing.

 

http://english.xmuoec.com/index.ashx

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

Sem,

 

Is it cheaper to live off campus in Kaifeng? Perhaps, however, what kind of off-campus housing is available in Kaifeng? I am not sure much is available. Maybe I am wrong.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

And now for something completely different...

 

KAILI UNIVERSITY in Kaili, Guizhou

 

Am I missing something here? 400 RMB/month for a single room? 12,800 RMB for one year of tuition?

 

http://www.admissions.cn/kluniv/

 

http://kluniv.admissions.cn/expense

 

Those websites look like they come from a third-party source and not from the university directly.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

As the OP indicated eight years ago when beginning this thread, it appears that Anhui province still may be (one of) the cheapest place(s) to do a year of full-time study at a Chinese university.

 

It appears that Anhui Normal University (in Wuhu), Huangshan University (in Huangshan), and Anhui University of Finance and Economics (in Bengbu) all offer both a year of language tuition plus a single room in a dormitory for two semesters for under 20,000 RMB. None of these institutions are in the capital of Hefei, so day-to-day costs may be extremely low if one plays their cards right.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Chris Two Times]

At the moment that is my benchmark for the "cheapest study programs on the Mainland": less than 20,000 RMB for one year of tuition of full-time Chinese language study at a university + two semesters of living in a single room in a dormitory.

 

I would also wish to have access to a kitchen down the hall for my own cooking and be living in a third-tier city "off the beaten path" (is "third-tier city off the beaten path" a redundancy?) in order to keep the day-to-day costs low. A grand total of less than 30,000 RMB (< 5,000 USD) for the year for tuition + accommodation + day-to-day living costs (which doesn't include additional expenditures for long-distance transportation costs and Spring Festival travel expenses as well as Western travel health insurance from my home country) would be desired if I were to go this route.

 

Such a plan is an attractive consideration: just go to a third-tier city "off the beaten path" where native English speakers are few and diversions such as Starbucks and Western dining options are even fewer--just go and get my learn on and talk to and live and play with the locals for a year.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Sem]

I also think that 20000 RMB grand total for tuition and accommodation for a year should be the ideal of "cheap". I also have to think about plane tickets, so you know how that goes. Off the beaten path sounds great, and I would surely prefer that over cosmopolitan cities where speaking English or even my native language would be easier - making the overall learning Chinese a harder task. The only thing I worry is if I end up in a place where people don't speak mostly Putonghua... though I don't really know how that would influence my Mandarin skills.

[Chris Two Times]

The only think I worry is if I end up in a place where people don't speak mostly Putonghua... though I don't really know how that would influence my Mandarin skills.

 

I agree with you on this Sem and that also plays into my considerations.

 

I previously lived in Sichuan and struggled with Sichuanhua during my very first year of studying Putonghua. After that first year, dealing with Sichuanhua got easier.

 

In the meantime, I have continued to look at universities and have discovered that Jiangxi can be cheap: Jiangxi Normal University, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, and Jiangxi Agricultural University are all at 20,000 or less for a year's tuition and two semesters of a single room. Also, there is the Jiangxi Provincial Government Scholarship for International Students, so there would be a possibility of getting an award of 6,000 RMB.

 

http://www.csc.edu.cn/laihua/scholarshipdetailen.aspx?cid=105&id=2933

 

It all sounds very nice, but Jiangxi is in the Gan belt of Chinese dialects. I wouldn't want to deal with a non-Mandarin dialect. Furthermore, all three of these universities are in the provincial capital of Nanchang.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

[Sem]

I've checked Jiangxi, and apparently 6,000 RMB is for one semester only, unfortunately. Also, the fact that they speak non-Mandarin dialects is a bit intimidating, haha. The scholarship seems to be well worth it, though.

[Sem]

I wanted to do something nice for anyone checking this particular thread or in the forum, so here's how I organized things so far (keep in mind, this is open to changes and I'd like help to keep improving the list, so more people can benefit from it):

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Guizhou University 贵州大学 (Guiyang, Guizhou - 贵阳，贵州)

Tuition - 10,000 RMB (1 year)
Accommodation - 800/1,000 RMB single room (monthly, presumed)
Grand total: 19,600/22,000 RMB

Pros: Off the beaten path, cheap cost of living, nice accommodation
Cons: Guizhouhua (might be hard to understand), hard to access without connection flights

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Guizhou Normal University 贵州师范大学 (Guiyang, Guizhou - 贵阳，贵州)

Tuition - 10,000 RMB (1 year)
Accommodation - 800/1,000 RMB single room (monthly, presumed)
Grand total: 19,600/22,000 RMB

Pros: Off the beaten path, cheap cost of living, nice accommodation
Cons: Guizhouhua (might be hard to understand), hard to access without connection flights

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Bohai University 渤海大学 (Jinzhou, Liaoning - 锦州, 辽宁)

Tuition - 10,000 RMB (1 year)
Accommodation - 9,000 RMB (yearly, presumed)
Grand Total: 19,000 RMB

Pros: Easy to access, nice accommodation, might be easier to speak Putonghua
Cons: Mostly urban, not a particularly remarkable city

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Henan University 河南大学 (Kaifeng, Henan - 开封, 河南)

Tuition - 11,000 RMB (1 year)
Accommodation - 12,000 RMB (yearly, presumed)
Grand Total - 23,000 RMB

Pros: Traditional architecture, lots of interesting places in the city proper, lots of places to go in Henan
Cons: Expensive (compared to the others), no private bath

[Chris Two Times]

That's a good start to a list there, Sem. I like the way you formatted it.

 

My list would look very similar to that.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times