Studying in Shanghai... Fudan I think

[pandab34r]

I am for sure studying in Shanghai next year (2010-2011). I have a couple of questions though. Mostly about housing and transit. As of now, my plan is to study at Fudan. But the more I think the more I realize I want to be in the downtown area where its really populous. I do not mind commuting so I am wondering how realistic it is I can find a suitable place to live which is very near a subway station. Price isn't so much a problem as the location is right. Now. Studying at another university is not out of the question as I am just now starting the application process for Fudan and have not yet been accepted as an international student. My own personal study plan most definitely includes being involved in as much of an active and social life as possible while in China. I would like to take some Wing Chun classes if possible... things of that nature. This is also why I want to live downtown... I figure there more people, the more restaurants, shops, transit, and business the better because its all just more exposure :-)

Any suggestions on how to find a nice pad are also welcome

Also, how are the subways in Shanghai compared to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, etc... in other words, is it pretty easy to ONLY use the subway?

Thanks!!!!:help:help

[anonymoose]

Well, you are lucky, because currently Fudan is a hassle to get to by public transport from downtown, as the closest metro station is not really within walking distance, which would neccessitate changing onto a bus . . . but a new metro line, line 10, is currently under construction and is due to open this year. There will be stops at Wujiaochang and Guoquan Lu, which are both within walking distance (10 - 20 minutes) from Fudan, which will make Fudan a lot more accessible.

As for whether you can get anywhere by metro, well, it depends on where you consider to be "anywhere", but over the last three years, the Shanghai Metro has already expanded from 3 lines to about 9 lines currently in operation (and some of those are also being extended), with more due to open within the coming years, so certainly coverage is getting good. I'd say most places within the wider downtown area are now accessible by metro. The metro is much better than buses, which tend to be very slow, especially during the rush hour, but the metro can also get very crowded, especially at these times.

[Xiwang]

I am currently studying Chinese at Fudan University; last year I attended Peking University. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have enrolled at Jiaotong University to be closer to downtown. (These are the two main schools offered by the program, China Study Abroad, through which I signed up.) I was going to change to Jiaotong for next semester but, eventually, decided to stay at Fudan.

For me, some of the thought processes that went into my decision were as follows:

1. From Fudan, it can take 20 minutes (with absolutely no traffic) to over an hour (during rush hour) to get downtown by taxi at a cost of about 45 to 70+ RMB. From Jiaotong, I could be in most places downtown within 15 minutes. The new subway station, when it opens, is a ten minute walk from the East gate of Fudan. However, it will still take you about 30 to 45 minutes after that to get downtown since you will have to change lines. (I am using People's Square as the arbitrary "downtown" reference point.)

The Shanghai subway lines all shut down by around 11 p.m. but who knows what time the new Line 10, when it finally opens, will shut down. (The new subway line to Shanghai University, which opened a couple of months ago, now shuts down before 5 p.m. but the hours are supposed to be extended this year.)

I have tutoring most late afternoons so, by the time I get done, I usually decide to stay near Fudan. I hated having to cancel my tutoring on those days I wanted to be downtown for something in the early evening.

2. At Fudan, I had one core class for ten periods (45 minutes per period) per week and four other classes for a total of 22 periods. I hated being pulled in five directions with five teachers, five different textbooks, and five sets of exams. I would have preferred having three classes but moving faster or more intensively in those classes. (As it is now, we didn't manage to finish any of the textbooks.) A friend at Jiaotong tells me that she only has three teachers.

I also didn't like having the same classmates for all five of my classes. Some students had good verbal skills but poor reading skills or vice versa. Yet, we were all put together on the assumption that our verbal, reading, writing, and aural skills were all at the same approximate intermediate level.

I don't know how my classmates feel about the teaching. However, I do know that, out of a class of 18 students when we started, we were down to six students by the time classes ended last week.

3. At both Fudan and Jiaotong, there is no central area where students hang out. (I miss having the student social, dining, and shopping hub of an area like Wudaokou (the "Harvard Square" of Beijing) in the Peking University/Tsinghua University/BLCU area.)

4. I love my current apartment in the KIC Village development, which is modern, super big, and located on a very quiet street. At the same time, Walmart is two blocks away so I can buy almost anything I need. There are also two large malls within three blocks. The new subway station, assuming that it opens before I leave, is two blocks away.

If I lived downtown, my apartment would probably be older and smaller for the same amount of money.

5. The non-Chinese restaurants in the Fudan area are mainly chain fast-food places, Korean restaurants, or Japanese restaurants. Since I'm a vegetarian, I've gotten pretty sick of my food options by now. Things would be about the same within walking distance of Jiaotong but, importantly for me, most every well known Shanghai restaurant is only a short taxi ride away from Jiaotong.

6. I love history. There is no history out here. There are also few expats out here.

7. I like that I am next to the main Fudan campus where most of the departments are located so I can meet a more diverse group of Chinese students. Most of the Jiaotong departments are located at campuses different than the one where foreign students are taught Chinese.

8. Many of Fudan's Chinese-language classes are taught in the new Guanghua building, which has an air conditioner/heater in each classroom and nice ladies who come in to wash the blackboards after each class. The classrooms are immaculate. (There is also one Western-style toilet on each floor.) However, some of the classes may be taught in the older Second Teaching Building, which is a standard Chinese building. The Jiaotong campus is old.

9. Partway through the semester, I admitted to myself that I often like to go to expat restaurants, hang around expats, go to Western cultural events, and socialize with students from Western countries. Unfortunately, my Chinese is not at the point where I can comfortably socialize with my Japanese classmates (who comprised half of my classes) and Chinese students who can't speak some decent English. (You may prefer to have a more language-immersive experience than I do.)

In the end, I decided to stay at Fudan. Aside from not wanting the hassle of moving, I decided that my learning Chinese was mainly up to me and not Fudan. If I put in the time, I could learn using most any method they threw at me. As for doing things downtown, I just started doing them. I decided not to use distance as an excuse any more since expats who live in some parts of the Pudong area probably have to travel just as far. If I plan things right, I can usually avoid most of the one-hour taxi rides.

I've set myself a goal of falling in love with Shanghai by the time I leave in July. I'm not there yet but I think that I'm well on my way.

Edited January 17, 2010 at 05:43 AM by Xiwang

[pandab34r]

Well, you are lucky, because currently Fudan is a hassle to get to by public transport from downtown, as the closest metro station is not really within walking distance, which would neccessitate changing onto a bus . . . but a new metro line, line 10, is currently under construction and is due to open this year. There will be stops at Wujiaochang and Guoquan Lu, which are both within walking distance (10 - 20 minutes) from Fudan, which will make Fudan a lot more accessible.

As for whether you can get anywhere by metro, well, it depends on where you consider to be "anywhere", but over the last three years, the Shanghai Metro has already expanded from 3 lines to about 9 lines currently in operation (and some of those are also being extended), with more due to open within the coming years, so certainly coverage is getting good. I'd say most places within the wider downtown area are now accessible by metro. The metro is much better than buses, which tend to be very slow, especially during the rush hour, but the metro can also get very crowded, especially at these times.

This sounds great, as long as I don't get stuck on campus past five (if this line possibly were to close after 5pm as Xiwang says. Although the course structure in Fudan seems to be concerning. Are these all courses for learning Chinese language?? My main objective is really to learn the language.. I am interested in history etc but I would like to keep the humanities to a minimum and maximize my intensive language learning while in class... to better equip me for my personal adventures throughout the city and the rest of China.

I am currently studying Chinese at Fudan University; . . .

I've set myself a goal of falling in love with Shanghai by the time I leave in July. I'm not there yet but I think that I'm well on my way.

Thanks for the input, its very helpful. I really want to avoid speaking English... at all. But I would like to have an opportunity to make a few close friends who I can hang out with and still practice Chinese. Possibly some Chinese students who's English skills are still pretty lacking. I hear a lot about Jiatong but I also herd that the only students there are grad students. Not that I have a problem with socializing with older individuals... I can. I just wonder if this is true and if so, will it put me at a social disadvantage for making friends? How about other institutes with intensive Chinese language programs??

Also, any suggestions still on where I may be able to study Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) in Shanghai?

Edited January 17, 2010 at 02:23 AM by roddy

[gato]

Great writeup, Xiwang. East China Teachers' College (华东师大) seems to be another popular choice in Shanghai. Its downtown campus is still used for instruction for local Chinese students, unlike Jiaotong.

[anonymoose]

I agree with most of what Xiwang wrote, but I'd just like to add a few comments:

However, it will still take you about 30 to 45 minutes after that to get downtown since you will have to change lines. (I am using People's Square as the arbitrary "downtown" reference point.)

I don't think it will be as bad as this. There will be a stop at Nanjing East Road, which is practically at People's Square. And to get there from Wujiaochang I estimate will only take about 20-25 minutes (based on it taking about that time for me to get from Huangxing Lu on line 8 to People's Square).

The Shanghai subway lines all shut down by around 11 p.m. but who knows what time the new Line 10, when it finally opens, will shut down. (The new subway line to Shanghai University, which opened a couple of months ago, now shuts down before 5 p.m. but the hours are supposed to be extended this year.)

As far as I know, that's because Line 7 (the one to Shanghai University) hasn't officially opened yet. It's still in its testing phase. However, different lines do have different closing times. Some seem to close before 10pm, others carry on until after 11. But anyway, if you plan on being out till late, then yes, it won't be of much use anyway.

At Fudan, I had one core class for ten periods (45 minutes per period) per week and four other classes for a total of 22 periods. I hated being pulled in five directions with five teachers, five different textbooks, and five sets of exams. I would have preferred having three classes but moving faster or more intensively in those classes. (As it is now, we didn't manage to finish any of the textbooks.) A friend at Jiaotong tells me that she only has three teachers.

I don't know about the beginners' classes at Jiaotong, but I attended the advanced classes there and we had 5 separate teachers and 5 courses, each course being 3 hours per day. (3 hours of listening class can get very tedious).

6. I love history. There is no history out here. There are also few expats out here.

I agree with that, but I think Shanghai in general is fairly devoid of history. There isn't a whole lot of history in Xujiahui either (where Jiaotong Uni is), except perhaps for Xujiahui Cathedral which is quite well known, but there's only so much time you can spend looking at a cathedral. By the way, have you been to Shanghai Museum near People's Square? It's free to visit, and well worth it in my opinion.

[pandab34r]

How about East China Normal University? How is it for location and language program? I have an intuition it may have a better Chinese language program than Fudan.

[gato]

In case you have seen them, here are some threads on Chinese programs in Shanghai, including East China Normal University (ECNU). The ECNU campus is next to Zhongshan Park, which is considered to be part of central Shanghai. The number 2, 3, and 4 subway lines are easily accessible nearby.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12882-shanghai-university-and-chinese-language-program-informationtestimonies

University and Chinese Language Program Information/Testimonies

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/26-traditional-vs-simplified-characters279

Best place to study in Shanghai?

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/106-websites-for-shanghainese33

SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY

[fritz]

Xiwang, thanks for great some great info on Fudan. I'll studying there during the spring term 2010 starting in a few weeks.

Do you know which textbooks they use in the higher levels (PKU/BLCU material)? Also, do you know anything about the jingji/wenhua classes and what's required to qualify for these?

[wateva125]

Hi Xiwang,

Thanks for your awesome post in regards to studying at Fudan!

I have applied to study a mandarin course in the fall semester 2010. You mentioned that you are living in the KIC village. where abouts is that? is it close to fudan?

How am i able to book accomodation there if i am interested?

Thanks!

[twinkler09]

Hi Xiwang,

Just wanted to say thanks for a really helpful detailed post!