trevelyan on October 8, 2014 | reply

Most university-level Chinese courses are pretty much the same in my opinion, so I would personally optimize your plans for whatever environment is going to motivate you to do things in Chinese. For me this would mean a decent-sized university (more students mean more social activities and stuff on/around campus) in a part of the country you would like to live. Pollution is a real concern if you are even thinking about staying through the winter. I would personally go south/southwest to Hangzhou or Chongqing rather than risk Beijing or Harbin at this point.

In major cities AirBNB rentals tend to be more expensive than hotels or hostels. If your school is providing you with an actual study visa (i.e. not a tourist visa) they may be able to set you up in a dorm -- something that will also encourage you to get out during the day. Apartments in 2nd tier cities will be available for 500 USD / month or less too, so as long as you have a place to stay for a week or two after arrival, this is something that you can productively leave until you get here.

dali on October 8, 2014 | reply

By coincidence I spoke with my Chinese teacher about this last night and she also recommended Chongqing and specifically South West University as she has friends who teach there. so perhaps fate is pointing me towards Chongqing

murrayjames on October 8, 2014 | reply

Hi Dali,

I travel to Chongqing a lot. It's one of the more interesting cities in China.

Visually it's unique. Built into mountains and hills, every road surface is on an incline. It's a nice city to *look* at; there are parts just like Cloud City from Empire Strikes Back. The geography results in some bizarre buildings, e.g., the lobby of your hotel will be on the 23rd floor, the parkade on the 13th, and two major roads passing by floors 1 and 11.

It's a sprawling city. Make sure your school campus isn't too isolated, or you'll be traveling an hour and a half (one way) to get anywhere interesting. Subway is convenient, but sometimes only takes you closer to where you want to go, not all the way there. Cabs, buses and 电瓶车 are other options. On the plus side, taxicabs are cheap compared with other large cities. Due to the mountains, it's not really a city for bicycles.

Chongqing people are great. Being on a college campus you'll also have a nice cross-section of foreigners and Chinese people from other parts of the country. The women in Chongqing are beautiful--even in they have a reputation throughout Sichuan for being crazy.

If you like spicy, the food is fantastic. It's even better than Chengdu (where I live), and that's saying a lot.

On the downside, young people don't go or hang out the same way they do in Beijing/Shanghai or even Chengdu/Kunming. There are a few places with live music--坚果/Nuts and 马格/Mug Bar--but far less than the other cities I mentioned. If you like clubbing, KTV, or going out for hotpot, you'll be fine.

Chongqing people do not speak standard Mandarin. Hopefully your teachers have standard accents -- I would check on this before choosing the school. Also, 重庆话 will sound incomprehensible until your Chinese gets together. I'm not suggesting you can't learn Mandarin in Chongqing. Of course you can, but if you want to speak with a standard accent you'll need (1) friends from Northern China; (2) access to standard Chinese audio--like Popup Chinese; and (3) pay close attention to phonetics. Don't pronounce bāi as bēi, shì as sì, etc.

If you do move to Chongqing, come to Chengdu and visit. Chengdu is a big city with a completely different vibe, and only two hours away by high-speed train. Tickets are cheap, at less than 100RMB.

EDIT: Chengdu itself is an option; 四川大学 has a well-known Mandarin program. The city is more cosmopolitan and laid-back than Chongqing, which can be good or bad, depending on what you're looking for. Note that Chengdu people do not speak standard Mandarin, either, so what I wrote about Chongqing also applies. Due to geography, you have more choices for transportation, and the city is less spread out generally.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

sfneu on October 9, 2014 | reply

You might look into Konall Culture Exchange, which is a very small (usually no more than 5 -10 students) school located in Shijiazhuang, about 2hrs south of Beijing by train. Their teaching schedule is very flexible, just tell them how much time you have and they will create a course for you from 1 week to 1 year. You spend 4 hours a day in class one on one with your teacher - no hiding in the back of the class! They'll find an apartment for you or you can stay with a host family and really go for total immersion. I was there for 5 weeks a couple summers ago and other than my fellow students I never saw another foreigner. One drawback is that the air pollution is as bad as Beijing, though it didn't bother me that much, perhaps because I lived in Los Angeles for 15 years.

Their website is http://www.gatewaychina.net/

If my wife would only let me I'd go back tomorrow . . .