Advice needed: Study Mandarin in ShenZhen, China

[yellowpower]

Hi there

has anyone studied Mandarin in ShenZhen. Can't seem to find much info about chinese language centers attached to Universities in ShenZhen.

Appreciate hearing anyone's experience of Mandarin study there. And what was it like living in ShenZhen compared to Beijing or Shanghai?

Let me know. Thanks.

[PanShiBo]

And what was it like living in ShenZhen compared to Beijing or Shanghai?

ShenZhen is different in many respects: Comfortably warm in winter. Place is smaller. One can see the sky more often. Food is more fun: lots of food is Cantonese, of course. Great Chinese teas selection. Practicing spoken skills is much better in my opinion: in Beijing everybody speaks standard Mandarin (which is not spoken by the rest of China) and in Shanghai they prefer to speak Shanghainese. In Shenzhen although they speak Cantonese, Mandarin is widely spoken. That "southern mandarin" version, without abuse of ending "r"s is more close to "practical" Chinese.

[Yang Rui]

I have lived in all three of the cities you mention. They all have advantages and drawbacks. My own opinion is as follows:

Beijing

It’s dusty, smelly, polluted, the traffic is awful, the summers are stiflingly hot and the winters dry and cold. But I love it.

As Chinese people will often tell you, Beijing is a political and cultural centre. So if you study here, you can spend your free time visiting the Forbidden City or the Great Wall, or hanging out in a trendy bar listening to local rock music, or talking to all of the different types of interesting people who make Beijing their home. I don’t think it’s that good for shopping (it seemed to me that the shopping areas are spread out) but then I don’t really like shopping.

I’ve always found the locals very charming – quite direct and some people might interpret this as rudeness, but once you get used to it, Beijingers are loveable.

For me, the cultural side of the city makes it a winner because there is always something to do, and unlike smarter cities like Hong Kong or Shanghai, the social scene is very laid back, not pretentious.

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a modern, practical city where people from all over China have come to work. In some ways, if you’re interested in business, the dynamism is interesting. People here seem less political and old-fashioned than in other places. As the comment above states, you’ll be exposed to a wide range of accents because immigrants have come here from all over the place. Service tends to be better here than in most other cities because people seem to have a modern, commercial approach to things, whereas other cities can seem more bureaucratic.

It’s nice to be so close to Hong Kong so that you have access to a big, international city and all that has to offer. This is one of Shenzhen’s main advantages.

The downside is that there is not a lot of culture in Shenzhen. I mean, of course, it has its own culture, but it’s not alternative like Beijing or smart like Shanghai. It can be a bit boring. There’s no sense of history, and a lot of people come to work, not to make a home, which I think affects the atmosphere.

Shanghai

Shanghai people seem to think Shanghai is the greatest and most civilized city in China, but they’re wrong. Beijing has more of a cultural scene, and Shenzhen has a more modern approach to business and service. The locals in Shanghai seem permanently angry. It’s the only place in China where, upon asking where something is in the supermarket, the assistant has replied “Look for it yourself!” (ni ziji zhao ba!). People are constantly arguing in the street. Taxis refuse to take you anywhere they don’t fancy going. Most of the locals have never left Shanghai so they don’t realise how much the rest of China has moved on.

On the upside, the food is fantastic and there is good nightlife, especially if you’re the sort of person who likes to pose and sip cocktails. I guess it's just not really my type of place.

If I was going to China to learn Chinese, my first choice would be Beijing, second choice Shanghai and third choice Shenzhen. Although I generally prefer Shenzhen to Shanghai, I do think Shanghai is a more interesting place to be for a student.

Of course, the above is just my own opinion. You’ll find plenty of people with different opinions, especially on the Shanghai vs Beijing thing.

[Guest realmayo]

Most of the locals have never left Shanghai so they don’t realise how much the rest of China has moved on.

Haha, really like this angle, would surprise a lot of Shanghai people...!

[PanShiBo]

In Beijing and Shanghai (Bund especially) one can practice Mandarin a lot and for free. Just wait until next "tea person" or "art student" or "girl with camera" approaches you.

[skylee]

People are constantly arguing in the street. Taxis refuse to take you anywhere they don’t fancy going.

Very true. The arguing thing is intriguing.

[Meng Lelan]

I used to see arguing in the streets all the time in Beijing. One time traffic was backed up near Wangfujing for hours until cops came to break up arguing in front of a (yes) public bus trying to move on but it couldn't.

[yellowpower]

Hi everyone

thanks for the sharing about Beijing, Shanghai, and ShenZhen. It's great to know.

Anyone has info about ShenZhen Universities offering Chinese language courses...tons of info about Beijing and Shanghai Unis but surprisingly hardly anything on ShenZhen..I wonder why?

[Yang Rui]

tons of info about Beijing and Shanghai Unis but surprisingly hardly anything on ShenZhen..I wonder why?

Probably because Beijing and Shanghai are far more popular destinations for students. The lack of information on Shenzhen in itself tells you that relatively few people go there to study Chinese. It might be a big city, but there's relatively little there to attract foreign students. I don't remember meeting any foreign students in my time there, though I expect there are some. I guess a lot of the students there might be family members of people who have been expatriated to Shenzhen, looking for something to do during the day time. If you go to Shenzhen, you can certainly expect a much smaller population of foreign students anyway.

Edit to say: have you looked at this http://lxs.szu.edu.cn/en/?lang=en? It's Shenzhen University's own page on its Chinese programmes for overseas students. It won't give you the point of view of students there, but it does have quite a bit of info.