trip to Shanghai specially for the HSK ?

[Frapunchino]

hello everyone, first of all sorry if there is already another post asking this question, i dont wanna pollute , so if there are, please forgive me and direct me towards these other threads.

I am a 20 years old male mauritiian ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius ) i have been studying chinese for about 1year and a half, on and off last year and intensively since october. I recently got a salary rise at work, and due to encouragements from my friends, i am thinking about saving money until june and going alone for a 2 weeks trip to Shanghai to take the HSK level 4 exam , since of course this exam is not offered in my country.

do you think its a good idea/it worths the while ? are there any advice/warnings you would like to give me ?

should I find an examination centre and register first and then after this buy my air ticket or proceed in the reverse order ?

how much would you expect to pay in a 3-star hotel for 2 weeks ? aren't there anything where its only sleeping and keeping your luggage there [ without food included] ? does such acomodation exist ? are they reliable ?

where I come from is pretty small , i would love to see the sea of people and the urban jungle of huge buildings .

who lives in Shanghai, would like to tour me out one day ? show me all the nice places ? of course i will incur costs for lunch, entrance fees to places etc... for both of us .

should I arrange things for the exam to be on my last days in Shanghai , for me to get the maximum immersion before the exams ? or on the other hand, should I plan things so that my exam to be just after my arrival, so that once its over to have fun and visit everything. or is two 2weeks too little time to experience a bettering of my language abilities ?

is it safe to walk around at night in Shanghai ? i would love to go the the night clubs and bars etc.. ? my ethnicity is indian, will people be staring at me all the time ? will i face unmanageable racism ?

i would like to taste all the xiaochi i can, street food vendors kinda stuff, to get the real glimpse of Shanghai, is it hygenic ? do i run any risks of falling ill ? apart of this how is the cost of life ? how much cost a bottle of water ? a packet of ciggarettes ? a meal with a street vendor ?

thanks for reading through to here. i speak also french and spanish, so if these are your native tongues, feel free to comment in these.

[hibicc]

Dear Frapunchino!

Your post made me happy. Me and my team (BICC) will be going to Mauritius in April to open Confucius Classroom and Online HSK testing center. I would suggest you to first register yourself for the HSK test by going on www.chinesetesting.cn .

[Frapunchino]

BICC thanks a lot for your answer .

are you already in Mauritius ? is there a way that i can contact your team ? a location or a phone number

i heard some rumors through some chinese teachers that the Chinese Cultural Centre of Mauritius is soon going to offer the HSK exam,

could it be that in fact, its your team coming and that you wil use our CHinese CUltural Centre as venue ?