What Chinese city would you recommend for an American student to study abroad in?

I have a very low understanding of Mandarin now but am taking a class in it so I will have time to improve before I leave. Which city would help me learn Mandarin while still being the most english-friendly city in China. I'm mostly looking at Beijing, Hong Kong, or Shanghai, but if you have other suggestions let me have them. Don't worry about me missing out on anything as I will visit all these cities while there. Only which is city is best to live in.


Thanks!

What Chinese city would you recommend for an American student to study abroad in?
Shanghai is more cosmopolitan and I think have a higher number of westeners (chinese version of San Francisco mixed with new york). Beijing is also a good city with plenty of universities to study in (and the olympics is being held there next year). Hong Kong is not really a good choice if your plan is to study mandarin, since english is widely used and cantonese is the spoken dialect on the streets, so you'll just end up confused.
Reply:I am a chinese girl. and i am going to go to the univercity.I think shanghai and hong kong have great univercities.shanghai is modern and tradional.hong kong is more fashion.


if you still have any question, you can contact me Report Abuse

Reply:People told me to go to Shanghai. There you can do a lot of modern socializing and speak mandarin so go there.





Beijing is also popular but to learn i hear go to Shanghai. Report Abuse

Reply:i have heard harbin, heilongjiang (spelling??) is a huge university city as well
Reply:Beijing, HK, Shanghai are great cities, but they are huge and it's easy to get lost in them. Smaller cities such as Suzhou or Nanjing and still big, but compared to Shanghai are much smaller. That way you still are in a normal town, not the middle of nowhere. Suzhou and Nanjing are really close to Shanghai, about 3 hour car ride. Both cities are very similar.





Suzhou is a great city to live and study in. You'll probably be at Suzhou University, the major college in Suzhou. It has a great location in the middle of the city and it's close to almost everything. It campus has a very relaxed atmosphere because it combines the old history and the modern renovations. There are a lot of international students that study there, especially from Japan and Korea. Suzhou is a great historical city with canals throughout the city. There are imperial gardens and it's close to Tai lake--a relaxing place a few hours outside the city. Public transportation is great in Suzhou. There are a lot of buses and come around often, but they can get really really crowded. The best thing would be a moped because the city is relatively big in area. The weather is humid and hot during the summer time and cold in the winter. You don't need to take a lot of things because you can just buy them in Suzhou. Since the exchange rate is so good for one USD, things are very cheap and you can find everything from Colgate toothpaste to Pringle's potato chips.
Reply:Dalian


Hangzhou


Qingdau
Reply:Well communication wise, Hong Kong would be a good choice since their signs are all in Chinese and English and many people speaks English. But learning Mandarin might not a good idea although the city offers Mandarin in their universities and the city is dominated by Cantonese speaking. I would say any of the Mainland cities would suit you learning Mandarin if you want to be in a Mandarin environment. But if you find Hong Kong better suit for you, then go ahead and take a tour at the world class city while you are there to learn Mandarin.
Reply:I always liked Xi'an,. Xi'an is an ancient capital almost in he geographic centre of China, away from the hectic export-zone coast.


Moreover, there are four exact seasons in Xi'an, four different regions of food bordering it, the desert with it's dates and mutton, and dried fruits, the East with it's rice and seafood, the Northeast with it's flour and noodles, etc.


Xian has it all, (albeit gritty and full of cars now)... There are also places like Ankun nearby where they still mine Jade, and Panda habitats not too far away, too, and don't forget the Terracotta soldiers... I'd head to Xi'an. Plus, their local college, where you may study Mandarin, is called, "Northwestern University"


Still, , to feel much less isolated, Beijing, or Shanghai are at least trendy cities with more western ideas floating around, albeit costly... HongKongese understand Cantonese more than Mandarin.
Reply:For your own convience, i would choose Hong Kong. But they speak cantonese there. Most people understand english.


if you want a mandarin speaking city, i would recommend shanghai. Its probably the closest thing to hong kong.
Reply:David,





Try cities in northern China cz' its dialect is the closest to standard mandarin. When you are learning a language, you want to practice it as much as possible, right?


Beijing is the best place. It has the best universities in China, a good size of expat population and diverse culture. You will never get bored. But it could be very expensive too. Cheaper choices are Harbin, Dalian, Shenyang and Changchun. The major drawback of northern cities is the weather and pollution.


Southern cities have less pollution, but their dialects are very different from mandarin.
Reply:also, Hangzhou is a very nice city; great food and and near many places of interest. Nanjing is another great city with many fine universities.
Reply:tokyo, yo!