From tourist L visa to X2 student visa?

[Guest]

Hey guys,

I want to apply for a semester long chinese course in a university in Beijing in september

I'd like to go to China before course starts, maybe end of july or beginning of august, to visit some parts of china and also maybe find a room before all the exchange students starts arriving for the fall semester.

So is it possibile to arrive on a L visa, stay for around a month, then leave from China (probably HK but NOT my home country) for a few days and come back on a student visa? I'd probably get my documents at the uni while on the tourist visa.

Thank you