Choosing a university/location

[poly_99]

Hello!

I've just finished my masters degree here in the UK and i want to study chinese next year (starting tbis September). I applied for one of the CSC scholarships and havent heard if i got it or not, so i'm making a backup plan. On the CSC I chose :Dalian, Xiamen, Guangzhou as my places to study. Now for my backup plan i was thinking of going a bit more inland, to either Wuhan or Mianyang. I've studied at BLCU in Beijing for one month before and had a great time but want to get out of Beijing, try somewhere new, somewhere less polluted and less westernised. I've written some thoughts about both the places below, what do you guys think? Any help/advise would be great, especially if you have been or know anyone who has been to SWUST (South west university of science and technology) and can tell me what the teaching is like as they only have a few foreigners.

Thank you very much!

Mianyang: www.swust.edu.cn

Small place, pretty, not so polluted (?).

Only 6 foreign students at the university so more of a total immersion thing.

Admission staff answered my emails very quickly, effectively and kindly.

May be the only person in my class, whats the teaching quality like?

Not sure how I would cope without any westerners about.

Wuhan: http://cice.ccnu.edu.cn

Lots of universities in Wuchang with lots of westerners and established (i hope) language courses

Bars/cinemas/etc

Pullution?

May stay with foreign friends and miss out on a great opportunity of trying to make Chinese Friends.

[ChineseSpeaker]

I am not familiar with Mian Yang

Wuhan is very near to my hometown. Since it's a big city with millions of residents, the pollution is relatively serious.

I don't think you will miss the opportunities of making Chinese friends, because there are far more Chinese than foreigners.

[helenlee]

I think if you want to choose a unversity in a better environment, you had better find a university in Zhejiang or Jiangsu Province. I think these cities are more beautiful and there are many good universities sunch as Zhejiang University etc. And in Wuhan there are many good unversities too. Their campuses are nice with very good acdemic qulilty too,but it is very hot in summer.

Nomatter where you choose, I think that if you get into a famous unversity, you will have many friends both from china and other countries.

Good luck

[roddy]

There was a write-up recently on mianyang - do a search for swust and it'll turn up.

[muyongshi]

I am currently studying at SWUST. What types of specific things are you looking for? And how long are you planning on studying for as well as what is your current level?

[muyongshi]

Small place, pretty, not so polluted (?).

Only 6 foreign students at the university so more of a total immersion thing.

Admission staff answered my emails very quickly, effectively and kindly.

May be the only person in my class, whats the teaching quality like?

Not sure how I would cope without any westerners about.

Pollution is less (But our last guy here, ninjabyrd, would complain that it was bad even when it was a perfectly clear day with blues sky- so I guess maybe I've been dulled to true clearness)

It's small but in terms of MANDARIN speaking that can be a negative

For next semester we only have 5. (unless you come)

You being the only one depends on your level. So far every other person they have just tried to throw into one of our current classes and it has only worked out a couple times. They are kind of lazy and may not want to add one for you.

There are some foreign teachers and then us 5 but we have our "lives" so we would welcome you and hang out but 4 of them are married meaning 2 couples so they have family to think about. Me- I have my cats.