Want to know where to study? Read this.

[roddy]

China is a huge place and offers an equally huge number of schools, universities and individual study options. There’s very little we can do for people who ask

“Where should I study in China?”

And don’t give us any more information

However if you can give it a bit more thought and narrow things down as much as possible, there’s more we can do. So, what issues should the budding coming-to-China-to-study-Chinese person be considering?

Practical

What is your budget for tuition, travel, accommodation, etc?

Lots of money? Look at quality private schools, programs run by overseas universities, qualified private tutors. Not much money, look at universities, cheaper private schools and university students doing tutoring work on the side.

How long do you plan to study for?

Universities are generally geared up for semester-length study at least, and may have winter / summer courses. Private schools and tutors are more flexible.

What kind of accommodation do you want?

University dorms are often easiest, but not good value for money. Apartments are better value, but can be tricky for short-term stays, and the apartment-hunting process can be intimidating in a new city with no language skills. Homestays can be hard to arrange and often don't work out.

If you'd like to share an apartment with Chinese people, you may prefer to look for young professionals rather than students - Chinese students are likely living in more cramped conditions than you are hoping for.

The Chinese learning

What is your current level of Chinese and how did you acquire it?

What level do you want to have after this period of study in China, and how do you want to acquire that?

Are there any specific skills or areas you want to work on?

Broadly speaking, Chinese universities tend to be large classes, traditional teaching methods. Private schools are smaller classes, more modern methods. Quality of both varies wildly. Individual study can be what you want it to be, if you can find a good tutor. Good tutors do exist, but you might need to go through a few poor ones first. Think about what style will suit you: A university class often doesn't give students much chance to practice speaking - are you motivated enough to make up for that outside of the classroom. Etc.

It is very common for students to find their classes, particularly at university, are not as valuable as they would like and to stop attending. In the first instance don't sign up for more than one semester - that will give you time to find your feet, decide how you want to continue, and if necessary get a self-study plan set up.

Geography

City size:

First-tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing are enormous, have more to do, are more expensive and offer more opportunities to do the same things you do back home.

Second-tier cities are usually provincial capitals such as Harbin or Chengdu, or high-performing places like Dalian and Qingdao. Cheaper, less entertainment and a more 'Chinese' experience, but still the comforts of home if you make an effort to go and find them.

Anything smaller than that and the western restaurant your teacher recommends may turn out to be McDonalds. Cheapest, not a great deal to do, so perhaps you'll actually study and talk lots of Chinese.

Climate: Think about what kind of weather you like and check the cities you consider aren't going to be a living hell. The north is freezing in winter, while the south varies from cold and damp to pleasantish. Everywhere is hot in summer but with varying degrees of sweatiness.

Roughly speaking, more standard Mandarin is spoken in the north-east. Opinions vary on how important this is for purposes of learning Chinese. Use it as a tie-break between two otherwise equal cities, rather than your only decision-making factor.

Although larger cities may seem like a bad choice as they're more expensive and you may spend all your time talking English with foreigners, the lifestyle you choose will be key. It's entirely possible to live in central Beijing and speak only to Chinese people, or to live in Nowhere, Inner Mongolia and spend all your time with Swedish oil engineers at the towns only bar.

Give all of the above some consideration. Look at a map, read about a few cities on lonelyplanet.com, and read as many of the posts on this forum as it is humanly possible to do. When you've got some ideas about the cities or study options you think might suit you, start your own new topic introducing yourself, what you think about all the above points for consideration, and what preliminary conclusions you've reached.

[abcdefg]

Good idea to refine the process.

What else?

Time considerations: How long do you plan to study? A couple weeks or a whole year? Must it be during a specific part of the year such as summer vacation?

[jbradfor]

Learning style?

[i'm thinking preferring a more "traditional" textbook program that focuses on all four skills, versus focusing more on just conversation skills.]

Importance of being in an area with more standard Mandarin spoken?

Maybe it's just me, but this concern seems way overblown to me.

[roddy]

Move along . . .

[jbradfor]

What kind of accommodation do you want?

University dorms are often easiest, but not good value for money. Apartments are better value, but can be tricky for short-term stays, and the apartment-hunting process can be intimidating in a new city with no language skills. Homestays can be hard to arrange and often don't work out.

Include suggestions / thoughts on accommodations that involve living with Chinese roommates? Is this possible?

[roddy]

added:

If you'd like to share an apartment with Chinese people, you may prefer to look for young professionals rather than students - Chinese students are likely living in more cramped conditions than you are hoping for.

[Brian US]

This is a great template, so shouldn't the topic be a sticky? I don't think it will get enough replies to be bumped, and most people like me don't really use search.

Edit: Never mind, just re read it and saw the sticky plan.

[roddy]

Ok, pasted the latest updated version into the first post and made it a sticky. Ultimately I'd like (stop laughing, sometimes I actually follow though) to have this as a form people can submit to generate a new topic. Or something.

Further ideas on how to improve it are welcome.

[Ian8]

These are all good questions that people should ask themself. I see it's been quite a while since the last post, but if you ever decide to update the guide perhaps you could include some examples. I'm considering studying at a university in a second tier city (not SH or BJ) but i'm not sure which I should be considering. If there was a list of recommended second tier cities for language study that would be great. I know you may not actually have that info but maybe just some sort of starter list of cities would help.

[imron]

You've basically asked "Where can I study in China?", without giving any more information

As the first post mentioned, once you've had a think about all of the above factors, and done some initial research:

start your own new topic introducing yourself, what you think about all the above points for consideration, and what preliminary conclusions you've reached.

If you do that, you should get a whole bunch of useful (and probably some not so useful) replies

[lakers4sho]

Can we have a general (pros/cons) for each city/place to study? Maybe we can have people who've been to a certain place chip in little bits and pieces and we can have one comprehensive thread, as a general resource.

 

lakers4sho

[icebear]

Can we have a general (pros/cons) for each city/place to study?

 

 

That would be excellent - thanks for volunteering to search and cull the existing content! A few suggestions to start from:

1. Beijing,
2. Shanghai,
3. Guangzhou & Shenzhen,
4. Kunming,
5. Dalian,
6. Hangzhou,
7. Tianjin,
8. Harbin,
9. Qingdao,
10. Chengdu,
11. Nanjing