Hi I'm post grad and am looking for a scholarship where I can study mandarin in China. Does anyone know of anything? Thanks! Sorry if asked a lot.

Hello friends,   I have 3 purposes for posting this: 1. I'm asking if there are any former students of Donghua here who could provide me with their name. The registration fee is waived when an old student recommends the school to me. 2. I'm asking if anyone is planning to attend the summer camp this year (2024) and would like to meet up. 3. I'm asking if anyone would like to share their experiences of attending this university.   Any input is much appreciated.

Anyone have recommendations for Qinghai (or Gansu)?    Wife and I planning a somewhat ambitious driving trip very soon from Beijing through 山西，陕西，甘肃, 青海，宁夏. We have most of May, we both can drive. Basically aiming for round trip to Dunhuang and back. Kind of something like the map attached (but the qinghai part is just a line because I have no idea).    Shanxi, Shaanxi we are going to stop at a few less popular places, no Xian as I've been there many times. Then from Yan'an approach Gansu or Qinghai.    Gansu seems pretty self explanatitory(at least the western part, but I'm not quite sure about Qinghai. Such a large province.    I'm trying to decide if I want to go Qinghai first and then up to Dunhuang or get to Dunhuang and then head down to Qinghai. Also unsure if I should attempt driving all the way down to Yushu or just stick to the North part of the province. Anyone have any first hand experience in Qinghai, what to see where to go, routes? I'm researching online, but I thought I'd ask here too.    I will probably put pictures from the trip on my blog as we go. 

Hello, I'm eager to learn Chinese and am looking for a language exchange partner who shares a similar interest in language learning. In exchange, I can offer help with English or any other language you may be interested in. What I'm Offering: Fluent English conversation and assistance with grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Cultural insights and discussions to make the learning experience more enriching. What I'm Looking For: Native or fluent Chinese speaker passionate about sharing their language and culture. Patient and committed partner willing to practice regularly and help each other improve. If you're interested in this language exchange opportunity and would like to embark on this learning journey together, please feel free to reach out to me. Let's help each other become more proficient in our respective languages while making new friends along the way! Looking forward to hearing from you soon! Best regards, Nazim Saeed

Has anyone visited Lijiang in Kunming province?  If so, what was your experience and what did you think? I have read some recent opinions that feel that it was better before it became a Unesco World Heritage Site. Others that said it has become way to commercialized.   Any experiences?

I am booked to do HSK3 next month. I had some questions about the final 10 questions (as they are worth 10 points each).   Part 1. to reorder the characters, we have to rewrite every character in the correct order? We cannot just write 312 above the characters to indicate our desired order. Is that correct?   Part 2. Writing characters from pinyin, I plan on probably getting 3/5 here. With the strokes how strict are they? Some characters have a little tick at the start of the strok. If I miss those do I get 0 or half points?   What exam number did you do in the most recent exam? :)

I've been learning Traditional characters in Guilin, Guangxi, and I'm right about to complete the Integrated Chinese series after 8 months of study. The Integrated Chinese books are often used up to the 202 level in American universities, so that may serve as a point of reference. I've been going through the books with a tutor for 4 hours a day during the weekends these last eight months. My goal is to be conversationally fluent and be able to understand people easily, if you're wondering why I'm learning traditional characters in mainland china, my main goal is to be eventually be able to read Classical Chinese, and the schools in China are more affordable than in Taiwan. I'm planning on continuing studying in Mainland China for prehaps the next year and a half? I'd like to avoid any language that is only used in written especially formal Chinese and focus on having a foundation in spoken everyday Chinese first since it's easier to immerse myself whilst living in China. I'm wondering if anyone had any recommendations for any books after this level.   Some books I'm considering A Course In Contemporary Chinese: there's a second edition available but I'm a bit confused on what the differences are between it and the first edition, it seems newly released.  Across The Straits: the format of this book seems very useful. I like that its just a transcript of two people (beijing, and taipei) speaking to each other unscripted, and that vocabulary lists are provided. The problem is that the books seems out of print and its difficult to buy books online here. If anyone has recommendations for a book similar to this I would appreciate it. Taiwan Today Beyond the Basics NTLU Materials: A lot of these seem to be similar to the format of Across The Straits but quite advanced in level, I don't know which of them is the most fitting for my level Expressive Chinese The Routledge Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course Crossing Cultural Boundaries Books from the Princeton series, not too sure which ones though, they seem to have been gradually switching away from supporting Traditional Characters as well.   I've also just been considering exhaustively listening to DuChinese? Making sure I know everything out of the advanced readers, and then move on to one of these or a harder book Thank you.

I've decided to finally plow through one of these.  Not in Chinese, that's way too much, but a translation. Just so I understand China better. But which one? Long ago I tried to read 3 kingdoms, but got thrown off the plot by the sheer number of names in Pinyin. They all felt alike in my brain and I  had the brief horrible thought that the novel would be easier to read with English names for all the characters.  Why not Tiger, Rainbow and Tommy? I also got partway through Journey to the West but it read more like a manga than literature.  (hey, there's an idea...)

So, it looks like I might have found a good job in China. We are already living in China, I am currently accompanying my husband on an S2-Visa and will therefore have to change to a Z-Visa.   I had a first talk with HR about the necessary documents today and it seems like they have not had the case of a foreigner changing visa types yet. My actual question revolves around the health check. I had this check done in my home country in order to enter China on the S2 visa, but as this was about 1 year ago I was told I would have to repeat the check.   The company now literally send me the form and the location of the "Shanghai International Travel and Healthcare Centre" today and that I should get a doctor to fill in the form and then have it "chopped" (any ideas on this chinenglish word?!?) at the Centre. We have an agent from my husband's company but she wouldn't say anything and will only do so for extra cash, of course.   So, my question: has anyone ever been through this process within China? Is it difficult and therefore worth getting an agent for this? Everything else for the visa will be organized by the company. Or is it really just... make doctor's appointment and make second appointment then to have the results checked and signed at the Centre. I have no idea if my insurance would cover this health check in the nice international hospital I usually have the privilege to go to. My Chinese is basic to intermediate at best, so I certainly would not be able to handle any medical questions in Chinese. Simple instructions like go there, sign here, pay here...  would probably be ok.   Any suggestions, experience? Thanks for sharing.

Hello, I am organising university exchange. My major is politics and I would like to study in China. I can read, listen and speak Chinese fine (hsk6-7), but cannot write a single character. Will Chinese universities that teach humanities subjects in Chinese have handwritten tasks or exams? If so its not a big deal as I can take english subjects, it's just that i'd rather use my Chinese at a tertiary level. Thanks.