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Hotel Class: 
2.5 Stars
No.38 Nanshan Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai, Shanghai Region, 200070, China
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my friend posing
river Huangpu
Samll market in the heart of Shanghai
Hi,
I´ll be arriving in Shanghai in early december and am planing to stay and study for an indefinate amount of time(probably around a year). So first up I need to get a Chinese Visa(Uk citezen), it states on the embassy´s website that one must aquire an enrollment letter from a school before being offered a student visa. My question is if i´m not sure which course i´ll go for is there any way I can just arrive with an ordinary tourist visa and just upgrade and lengthen the visa while I´m there? Also, could anyone recomend some good value Mandarin courses preferbly at a unversity starting around Dec/Jan?
Come on a tourist visa, then change it to a student visa after you enrol in a school.
I have no personal experience with converting a tourist visa to a student visa. I only know that the PSB no longer allows conversion of a tourist visa to a work visa since 2005 except under unusual circumstances. That information came to me directly from the PSB during a 2 hour presentation to university teachers here in China. You should consult someone at a university before accepting a suggestion without authority. Arriving with a tourist visa and hoping to convert it could bring you disappointment so make a few direct inquiries with the unis who might be asked to do this by you.
Almost any university in China can offer good Chinese language courses but you should also consider the housing, location (most unis in Shanghai have an old campus in the central area of the city and new campus in the suburbs and some have up to 6 campuses in the Shanghai area), co-operative attitude of the International Office of the uni, etc. Outside of Guangdong Province which is in the Hong Kong area, all university Chinese language courses will be what westerners call Mandarin since it is the official language and the government is hoping to make it widespread.
In Shanghai, the top three unis are all "985 Project key universities" which means they get special funding from the central gov't because of their qualifications for high level research projects. This doesn't necessarily indicate they teach Chinese well. It is, however, the main yardstick in China for rating universities. Here are their contacts:
* East China Normal University (most beautiful campus in the city although their dorms are shabby; 7 minute walk from the Jin Sha Jiang Road stop of the light-rail) lxb@ied.ecnu.edu.cn
* Shanghai Jiao Tong University (couldn't find an email listed on their poorly arranged web site: http://www.sjtu.edu.cn/english/)
* Fudan University (nearest the center of city but another messy web site-- try this email: chinesefd@fudan.edu.cn --I also have email address to their International Office for hiring foreign teachers but they have never replied to me. I must be like Gomer Pyle shopping at Neiman Marcus. They look the other way.)
God, I would love to redo about 50 China uni web sites. Some have discovered Flash but they haven't discovered dispensing sensible information.
BTW, you won't likely find any uni offering courses that begin in Dec/Jan. They have to schedule around Spring Festival which is a lunar holiday so for 2007, most will begin the spring semester around Feb. 20-25. Mine begins Feb. 25.
Fudan University is actually further out than the other two named above. Actually, for the record, the most centrally-located tertiary educational institution is Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and it does offer pretty good Chinese language courses as well.
I packed 4 days of clothes into a small rolling suitcase, because I don't like to check luggage. The Shangri-La has everything that you could want- hair dryer, toothpaste, you name it. It was high 60s when I went (May). I didn't see anyone in shorts, but I don't know if that is taboo or not. You probably want to get a converter if you have a 110V charger. It's really hard to get Coke over there- they love Pepsi.
Shanghai is a huge place, as anyone who has been trying to get around from one end to the other can tell you. One fast and convenient way to get around is the metro. The metro network is not that extensive, and stops are quite far from each other except at transport nodes, but if you are located near a metro station it is very convenient. There are signs in English on directions and prices, so even though you do not speak Chinese, you will manage to travel on the metro. Some ticket sellers also speak a little English, but you can also use the ticket buying machines for getting your ticket. The system is also rather clear; there are 5 lines and in addition to that you need only remember your destination station and the end station in the direction you are going. If you are going to the main Railway station it is also well marked so no problem there.
Trips cost between CNY3-5, depending on the length of the trip, and trains run frequently between early morning and late evening. (Better check the timetable if you are going anywhere very early or very late.)
Also note that rush hour traffic is horrible (I have even not been able to get on the train sometimes, and had to wait for the next one). The People's Square station is huge and transits there take a while as you have to walk a fair bit and most of the people around you will also get off here.
Also keep your belongings close to you as this is dream territory for pick-pockets. If travelling with heavy or cumbersome luggage, consider taking a taxi.
Shanghai never sleeps. So if you're an insomiac, this is the perfect city to be in. Drink a bottle or two of Tsing Tao beer and walk along the city's shopping avenue: Huai Hai Road. I did this on my first night in Shanghai.
It's one of the best things I did, and slept like a baby afterwards.
Every night, thousands of people are congested on the strip of pedestrian road that is the Nanjing Dong Lu. Locals and tourists alike, a walk on this infamous road at night has long been a hands-on study about capitalism in this Communist nation.
Since the rapid development of other commercial districts, namely Huaihai Lu and Xujiahui, Nanjing Lu has lost much of its prestige. Nowadays, it seems to be content to be a causal destination for all families to stroll along and buy an ice cream from the numerous McDonald's that have been sprawling like wild fungi.
Nanjing Lu, like most other high-end shopping malls, is a display of expensive shops most locals do not dare to enter, and a habitat for an unreasonable amount of fast food chain to satisfy the typically-low-income's hunger.
Not only westerners are the tourists here. Even the locals and residents of nearby Asian countries flock to this place to experience the local attractions and adventure in this cosmopolitan city.
Along the Huangpu River, you can see The Bund. Once a dynamic and bustling trade port, European banks and international trade dominated this area. As a matter of fact, there are still many aspects of that today in Shanghai. However, local Chinese Banks now rule the scenes and almost all development strongly cater to Chinese interests.
These maritime vessels carrying raw materials and commodities reflect the vibrant economy that thrives in this city on a daily basis. The background hi-rise buildings in this scene portray the vacation condos (with tremendous beautiful views) amid this busy city. Shanghainese work and play is a strong part of life in this place. Not only can you see it, you can feel it once your here...
Tourism plays an important part, especially with the Huangpu River cutting right along the skylines.
This financial hi-rise building breaks the record over Hong Kong in terms of the tallest skyscraper between both cities. Future development will only provide further competition...
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