shuoshuo Posted July 18, 2013 at 12:55 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 12:55 PM @amvtop10 - You can get your physical examination form completed in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amvtop10 Posted July 18, 2013 at 04:17 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 04:17 PM Is it kind of hard to get a physical in China? I have no idea, never been there and I can't speak chinese. Also i hear my friend tell me that medicine there are bad and doctor sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjnsharp Posted July 18, 2013 at 04:22 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 04:22 PM It's easy. I had one done, booked a couple of days in advance. My brief experiences of seeking medical advice have been fine. My classmates have paid several hundred pounds for there medical in the uk, I paid around £40 in china. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjnsharp Posted July 18, 2013 at 10:29 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 10:29 PM Has anyone had any experience of getting accommodation? It seems to implicitly imply that we will be accommodated in double rooms. Is there possibility of upgrading to a private room as I would prefer that. Or possibly renting my own apartment if not.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 18, 2013 at 11:29 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 11:29 PM @amvtop10 - Schools with a large international student body tend to organize a day or two in which students can get their medical tests done at the schools. If not, your school will be able to guide you to a clinic where you can get your physical examination done. There's nothing for you to worry about here, even if the doctor can't speak English you only have to hand them the form and they'll know the exact tests you need done. The complete test costs about RMB500 or so. My personal experience with medical care at local hospitals (for locals): big thumbsdown. Although cheap! If you're headed to a first-tier city, most large hospitals have sections specifically for foreigners. You might want to try that. If you want quality medical services (especially in terms of diagnosis) try the clinics for foreigners. Costs can be quite steep though. @Bjnsharp - I'm already dreading this very bit of the experience. Some schools are really nice, they'll consider letting us pay the difference (half the cost of a double room is deducted from the single room). I did that the last time. Other schools won't even allow students to change rooms! Although I want to save money this year so I will try to spend the first semester accepting whatever it is they throw at me. If my room mate wants to play hardball, bring it on. There seem to be a lot more vacant rooms in the second semester when many of the one-semester language students leave so if you're a hardworking student, the teachers will be more willing to give you the first option that I mentioned. Also, the teachers tend to lie sometimes and tell you that there are no vacant rooms. So if you know a student who leaves a few weeks after the beginning of the course (some students eventually decide to find apartments off campus) follow them to the students office when they're returning their room key. Not kidding! As soon as they're done talking to the teacher who handles student accommodation, ask the teacher if you can have that room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 18, 2013 at 11:39 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 at 11:39 PM @NANDA - If they posted it on July 10, it might take up to 2 weeks to reach you. If you're worried anyway, ask them for the tracking number of the package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihcahieh Posted July 19, 2013 at 06:12 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 at 06:12 AM Question about the F-Visa. Should I apply for multiple or is it the case that when given the temporary residence permit, that automatically grants me multiple entry? Manila - Xiamen flights are really cheap, and I am planning to go home once in a while during weekends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 19, 2013 at 08:54 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 at 08:54 AM @ihcahieh - Yes, the residence permit will allow you to travel back and forth with no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallcity Posted July 21, 2013 at 06:50 PM Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 at 06:50 PM Hi there, congratulations to everyone who has received the scholarship. I live in the USA and have been laid off from my job, and have been working random labor jobs at minimum wage.. so I don't think I can afford to fly to China to study. My CI at my campus is closed for the summer, of course, so I asked for help at Financial Aid, Admissions, the Provost, and the Languages Dept (which now 'oversees' the CI). Nobody had ever heard of the scholarship, and told me I should wait, and transfer to a four-year school, then study abroad. I had a difficult time convincing them that this was a unique opportunity. They were all fairly clueless. Since I can't afford to go there, I emailed the school (ECNU, Shanghai) admissions dept, hoping to find a contact there. I included a brief explanation of my situation, saying I didn't know what would happen as of now. They may have misinterpreted and replied back 'Thank you for telling us your decision'. I was hoping to see if I can switch to the Spring semester, as I could almost guarantee I could travel there, but I anticipate that would be difficult, if not impossible. Again, congratulations to everyone who qualified and can travel there! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitie Posted July 22, 2013 at 11:25 AM Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 at 11:25 AM @Chris - I'm sorry to hear of your circumstances. I truly hope it will work out for you.... @ihcahieh - if you are planning to go frequently back, ya opt for the multiple entries... @shuoshuo: Hope you can enlighten me on some questions.. Apart from the tuition fees and other related fees, we are entitled to one-off resettlement subsidy and monthly allowance. May I know when we would get these allowances (e.g. first week, when we successfully set up bank account) and how would it be given to us (e.g. via cash, cheque, transfer)? Who do we contact if we did not receive them (e.g. the university, Confucius Institute China, our local Confucius Institute)? On the insurance, how does it work? Do we need to register and if so how? On the visa application, there’s question around medical insurance which I have no clue how to answer and I'm assuming they are referring to the insurance which we are covered under the scholarship - 2.7 Do you have medical insurance covering your visit to China? If yes, provide name of the insurance company and your insurance policy or account number (Maximum 300 characters can be entered.) Lastly, on the visa application “travel information section”, I have some queries around them: · 2.3 Date of your first entry (format:yyyy-mm-dd) – I’m planning to assume 1 Sept 2013, for simplicity purposes. Would this be an issue especially when I have not bought my flight ticket yet? I think we don't need to present flight tickets info.... · 2.4 Longest intended stay in China among all entries of your intended visits – I’m opting for the multiple entries visa and may travel around Asia during that period, so answering this query is difficult. I’m planning to assume this to be between start date and end date of my course. What do you think? · 2.5 Address(es) and phone number(s) during your stay in China listed in time sequence - As I have no idea what my accommodation address and no Chinese phone number, I think I’m going to assume the uni’s address instead..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 22, 2013 at 03:35 PM Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 at 03:35 PM @fruitie - I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. Please be aware that my previous experience was through the CSC scholarship and this will also be my first time on the Confucius. Having said that, I'm quite sure there are a lot of similarities in the way universities handle scholarship students so here we go: We should receive our first month's allowance + the one-off subsidy almost as soon as we arrive at the university, in cash. Obviously, it depends on which date and time you arrive. If you arrive on a Sunday for example, you will have to wait until the teachers are back at the office on Monday. Likewise, if you arrive on a Saturday you will probably have to wait until Monday. So try to sort out your flight in a way that you arrive during working hours so that if you encounter any issues including accommodation, the teachers will be able to sort it then and there. By the way, they take about 400 RMB from you as the accommodation deposit (in case you break stuff or whatever) and the money will be refunded before you leave. Don't forget to keep the receipt! Some universities will tell you to create your own bank account, others will create one for you and give you the details of it including a debit card. Although it seems to be a popular thing these days where the international students office expect you to collect your allowance each month (and you have to sign for it in person). If you do not collect it within a specific time frame you may lose that money for that month. Remember to understand your university's policies on this. All these schools have a Confucius Institute. But I think before we escalate any issues to them we can attempt to contact the staff at the international students office, as they handle all our affairs. You will receive your allowance every month, you don't have to worry about that. Each university have scholarship students - we are all in the same boat. Medical insurance - if you have the information, then fill in the form with the information you have. Although I would expect your school to have the information when they sent you the visa form. Entry date - if you are applying for an X visa (student visa) you need to pay attention to the date that you will be entering China, give yourself enough time to sort out your residence permit when you're there. I think you get about 30 days from the time you enter China. Generally, that's still ample time to sort it out. So yes, I think Sept 1 is alright. How long will you be in China? If it's for 1 year you should get a residence permit. That way, you can travel back and forth without having to worry about how many times you have re-entered. Just to let you know that I was able to obtain a 6-month residence permit so even if you are there for 1 semester only, you don't have to deal with multiple entrance visas. Think residence permit at this point (you will get this in China). So for now, apply for a student X visa. Yup, you can put your university's international students office contact details. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitie Posted July 22, 2013 at 04:25 PM Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 at 04:25 PM @shuoshuo - Thank you so much for your reply. Really really helpful! I'm only studying one semester only, so I'll be applying for Visa F. I hope to get a multiple entries within 6 months. It's interesting that you mentioned "Just to let you know that I was able to obtain a 6-month residence permit so even if you are there for 1 semester only, you don't have to deal with multiple entrance visas." ->> Does that mean that I can apply for "multiple entries within 6 months" with Visa F? I just spoke to my local visa centre, apparently that option is not available i.e. for Visa F only single entry is allowed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 22, 2013 at 06:21 PM Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 at 06:21 PM @fruitie - Apply for an X (student) visa in your country before you leave. As soon as you get to China, within 30 days your school will help you convert that into a residence permit, even if you're there only for 6 months. You can even sort this out on your own, you will need an admissions notice and your accommodation document (you may or may not need to do a medical test). A residence permit allows you to enter and exit China as often as you wish from the date stated until its expiration date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amvtop10 Posted July 29, 2013 at 05:25 PM Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 at 05:25 PM Wow! Still nothing in the Mail. Have anyone got their letter yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitie Posted July 29, 2013 at 05:30 PM Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 at 05:30 PM I haven't got either. I found out late last week that my uni hasn't sent me! Hopefully it will come through in few weeks time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATkinG Posted July 29, 2013 at 06:49 PM Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 at 06:49 PM hello frnds, well i got my documents via EMS, they told me a week ago via email that they'd sent me the documents, and exactly after one week (today's morning) i got my documents at my home address. well definitely you guys also gonna get your documents very soon. Stay in touch n Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 29, 2013 at 06:54 PM Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 at 06:54 PM Nothing from my side. Last week, the teacher went to the post office to attempt to track it down and he told me that it left China only 2 weeks after he had posted it. Crazy right? I will check my post office box tomorrow, and if it's not there I'll check again on Friday. I've been waiting for almost a month now. I know someone else from my school who received her package after only 1 week of it being posted. My school didn't use EMS to send out the packages, they used regular, registered mail. Update - Nothing in my post office box. I'm starting to re-think my plan. Here I am waiting for my Confucius Institute documents for a month now so that I can apply for my visa and buy my ticket, and at the same time, my documents through CSC has been waiting for me at the Chinese embassy for a month (ticket covered by CSC!). I'm so frustrated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendi Posted July 30, 2013 at 04:15 PM Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 at 04:15 PM hi there Does anyone know if it will be a big problem with dealing with the temprorary permit residence if i come two weeks before the registration ? I really need to come earlier to meet my friend whose going to europe for scholarship as well. I will be grateful for any information about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuoshuo Posted July 30, 2013 at 05:50 PM Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 at 05:50 PM @wendi - Apply for an F single-entry visa. That way, you can leave for China 2 weeks before the registration date and you'll have ample time to convert that to a residence permit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amvtop10 Posted August 1, 2013 at 03:25 AM Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 at 03:25 AM My registration deadline is the 4th. I will be register on the 3rd and be there on the 2nd. Is that okay? Do you think it is late for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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