Two semesters at two different universities in two different cities - worth it?

[jess.ylz]

Dear forum-goers, you've all been enormously informative. This may be a different question from the usual, but I'm planning, like most of you, to spend a year in China studying Chinese for the 2009-10 academic year. I was having trouble deciding cities I'd like to be in. I've already studied in Beijing (a summer program at Beida/Peking Uni) and I'd like to try out another city this time around that is accessible (rail-wise) but maybe less overwhelming (population < 5 million). From the multitude of threads here and my own climate-preferences, I've narrowed it down to Xi'an and Harbin.

I wondered if I could gauge your opinions... would it be too much trouble or totally worth it to spend one semester in one city, and the next in another? I was thinking of Harbin in the fall, getting out just before the coldest month of February, and then spending the spring in Xi'an. My main concerns regarding whether it'd be worth have to do with:

1. Registration: I've heard that registration/enrollment in Chinese universities isn't the most efficient... my summer program at Beida was organised as a group by my current uni. Do I want to go through that twice?
   
2. Visa: Would I have to arrange for two? Or if I was able to get the appropriate acceptance letters in time for the appropriate dates, could I apply for just one? Is it easy to get a multiple-entry student visa? Would it be simpler to renew or apply for a new visa from within China or in Hong Kong (where I'd hope to go for part of the new year's holidays) or outside China (my sister works in Southeast Asia)?
   
3. Relocating: This is probably more of an issue of personal hassle rather than administrative obstacles. I'm not afraid of trains, I just wonder if I can learn to travel light.
   

Cost does not appear to be too much of a problem since there are no better rates for staying two semesters instead of one. I can't think of any extra costs I'd incur other than the train tickets.

I've chosen these particular cities 'cause they're not major hubs for English-speakers learning Chinese (it was too easy living so close to Wudaokou) but also 'cause:

• Harbin: Russian flavour (my current roommate is Russian-American and considering teaching ESL in China and thinks this is cool), missed opportunity from the last time I was in China, possibility of using the ARAQ network if necessary, nice-looking dorms, familiar climate
  
• Xi'an: Diversity/atmosphere (I've only spent a weekend there but there was something about it), history (not just bingmayong/5000 years history but also Silk Road history and Yan'an Way history), location (a number of nearby sites I'm interested to see on weekends), supposed to be nice in the spring?
  

In Harbin, I'm considering Heilongjiang University, but maybe HIT. In Xi'an, I've been looking at Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an International Studies University, Xidian University, and also Northwest University (but not really, it seems to have poor web presence). If anyone has any advice or experience they'd like to share about Xidian or Northwest, I'd appreciate it (I haven't really seen anything on these forums). Likewise for choosing between each of the unis in each of the cities. I know certain universities have better reputations in general but I'm wondering about teaching-quality, student life, and campus-living.

Thanks!

[peekay]

Registration for most schools isn't going to be a big deal. Visa will be a bit trickier. You will not be able to apply for two visas at once (or one long visa that covers both schools.) A couple of possibilities:

1) Apply for a semester at the first school, which gets you an F-visa valid for 180-days. Then after the semester ends (but before the visa stay period runs out), apply for to the second school and get another F-visa. The timing could be tricky if there is a long break between the two semesters (e.g., over summer break). You might have to get a tourist visa in between, and/or do a "visa-run" outside of China. Probably fine over winter-break.

2) Apply for a year program at the first school to get yourself an X-visa and a Chinese resident permit valid for 1 year. After one semester, transfer to the second school (which will issue you a new X-visa). Just make sure you can get a tuition refund from the first school.

[JenniferW]

I think your idea of 6 months at a Xi'an university is good. I worked for 2 years in a small town north-west of Xi'an and visited Xi'an regularly. There's a lot to see in and around that area, and it's a sort of transport hub, too.

I took short courses (in Chinese) at Xibei Daxue, and had some good teaching. If those courses are still being run on the city centre campus, the location's really good, too. The north gate faces a section of the southern wall of the city. I did some work at XISU, and in comparison that feels right out in the suburbs, meaning long bus rides or taxi rides for getting into anywhere central. A friend did a course at Xi'an Normal university and really rated it - and his Chinese was good, too. They used to run courses which didn't mix Japanese students with non-Japanese, so both could deal with learning characters at their own appropriate speed - and I've not heard of anywhere else doing that.

[fanglu]

I spent three semesters in three different cities - Beijing, Xi'an and Qingdao - and it was great. Met different people, different cultures and accents; theres always new things and places to discover each time you move. The giving away things you've bought (household effects mainly) is a bit frustrating, but its not like that stuff is particularly expensive.

You'll probably have to leave the country and organise a new visa for the second semester though. You didn't use to have to if you used an agent inside China but before the olympics it got really tight, not sure exactly what the situation is now.

[jess.ylz]

Registration for most schools isn't going to be a big deal. Visa will be a bit trickier. You will not be able to apply for two visas at once (or one long visa that covers both schools.) A couple of possibilities:

1) Apply for a semester at the first school, which gets you an F-visa valid for 180-days. Then after the semester ends (but before the visa stay period runs out), apply for to the second school and get another F-visa. The timing could be tricky if there is a long break between the two semesters (e.g., over summer break). You might have to get a tourist visa in between, and/or do a "visa-run" outside of China. Probably fine over winter-break.

this will probably be the case. i wonder, should i apply for both schools from canada (home) or apply for the second while in china? i'm mostly worried about the postal service and ensuring that forms get to the right places. do most unis allow students living off-campus (a possibility) to have their mail sent to a university-address? also, are student visas generally single-entry visas?

I took short courses (in Chinese) at Xibei Daxue, and had some good teaching. If those courses are still being run on the city centre campus, the location's really good, too. The north gate faces a section of the southern wall of the city.

thanks for your advice jennifer! it's the first i've heard of anything about xibei's chinese-teaching on the internet. did you live on campus while you were there?

You'll probably have to leave the country and organise a new visa for the second semester though. You didn't use to have to if you used an agent inside China but before the olympics it got really tight, not sure exactly what the situation is now.

did you have to leave the country between semesters? if not, where did you renew/apply for a new visa?