Study Abroad Decision - Any advice?

[xiaojiang216]

各位好：

It's been quite a while since I last posted on the forums, but I have been a loyal member and frequently read posts (trust me!). I am aware that there are tons of threads about study abroad programs, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for my particular situation:

As a Chinese major, I am required to study abroad for two semesters (one semester can be during the summer). I feel that the Chinese department is counting on me to represent their program, so I think for "political" reasons I should attend for at least one of the two semesters.

However, I am concerned about the pollution in Beijing (where the program is located) and worry about staying in Beijing for 5-6 months. So I have been thinking about attending a program in a less polluted place or smaller city (any suggestions?) for the summer semester, and then attending my school's program in the fall.

So I guess my situation boils down to two questions:

- Should I be concerned about the health risks of staying in Beijing for 5-6 months? (I have been to Beijing twice before, each for a month and a half.)

- Does anyone recommend any advanced* summer programs in less polluted areas? I have heard about a few students studying in Hangzhou. Would this be a good alternative?

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this and for any advice. I have always appreciated the friendliness and helpfulness of the members of this forum.

提前向大家拜个年！

谢谢！

Edited December 23, 2009 at 01:11 PM by xiaojiang216

[Erbse]

If you already know that your body doesn't suit polluted areas, by all means stay away from them. We recently had some similar threads, including links to other websites with pollution maps. See here:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/23120-air-pollution-levels-in-chinese-cities

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/23406-im-allergic-to-china

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/22869-mainland-morals-taiwan

According to those map Hangzhou is still pretty much polluted, but way less then the deadly polluted Beijing.

Coastal cities like Xiamen should be fine. Kunming was also acceptable when I was there, although there is space for improvement as well. However these place might not cater to your study needs.

[gato]

Qingdao or Dalian would be better in the summer. Hangzhou, like Shanghai, is extremely hot and humid in the summer.

[jbradfor]

IMUO (In My Uninformed Opinion), I think the pollution risks for a short stay are overblown. Since it seems you've resigned yourself to spending a semester in Beijing ("attending my school's program in the fall."), the only difference is 2-3 months over the summer. Unless you are unusually sensitive to pollution, I don't think it will make that big a difference.

You might want to go somewhere else for the summer just for a difference experience. But for the pollution? Doesn't seem worth it to me.

[xiaojiang216]

Dear all,

Thanks so much for your feedback and advice.

I am not particularly sensitive to the pollution, and I wasn't really concerned about it in my past visits to Beijing. (Although I do vividly remember wiping soot out of the pores of the skin on my arm!) Perhaps all of my recent readings about how bad the pollution is has scared me. Actually, I had gone to Beijing with pollen allergies from home which went away within a week or two, haha.

Aside from the pollution issue, I think that studying in another place is a good idea for a different perspective and experience, as jbradfor pointed out.

I've come across CET and the various programs they offer, including Beijing, Harbin, and Hangzhou. Does anyone recommend any programs outside of Beijing for advanced students of Chinese?

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts! I'm sorry if I am being an annoying wimp!

谢谢!

[wushijiao]

Maybe if you don't mind me asking (just in order to get an idea of what you want to try to accomplish and which city/program might be best for that purpose)....What do you plan to study? What are you interested in generally?

Edited December 24, 2009 at 04:42 AM by wushijiao

[skylee]

Must it be a place on the Mainland? How about Taiwan?

[xiaojiang216]

wushijiao - My main goal is to improve my Chinese overall, with perhaps more emphasis on formal language. My Chinese teacher says I have a 瓶颈 in terms of expressing "more complex ideas" with "more sophisticated language," and also when I have to present information in a formal setting. I have a tendency to 念稿子, but I do the same thing with English, too. I don't tend to use sophisticated language in ANY language.

More specifically, I have always been interested in 古文 and 文言文. I have been trying to read texts such as 《庄子》 on my own. But that is quite difficult without an instructor. At any rate, I am game to study just about anything in China. But regardless, I want to improve my Chinese as much as I can when I am there.

skylee - I am not unwilling to go somewhere outside of Mainland China. However, it may be easier in terms of visas and the time I have between semesters if I am not too far away.

Thanks so much for your input!

[wushijiao]

Well, with those goals, I think just about any city would do. It might be nice to stay somewhere down south, to get a more balanced perspective on China, and to have other weekend travel opportunities.

Good luck!

[Meng Lelan]

Andrew987 just posted about CET Hangzhou if that would help you decide where to go.

[xiaojiang216]

Indeed, Andrew's post was quite helpful.

Thanks to all for their advice. I think now I should talk it over with the department chair and see what she thinks and will approve of in terms of alternatives. I think out of respect for her program, I should attend at least one semester (probably the fall semester instead of the 8 week summer semester).

Thanks to everyone for their advice, it is greatly appreciated!

[chrix]

(I just saw this thread)

xiaojiang, be sure to check out the various study threads in our Classical Chinese subforum... it's not as good as studying with an instructor, but people will try to help clear up any problems there. You could start posting questions on any text, like the Zhuangzi