Thinking about moving to Chengdu – Questions

[Kalle]

Hello!

A few months ago I got this crazy idea that studying chinese and living in China for 1-2 years would sound like an incredibly fun and interesting experience.

But frankly, I have a hard time deciding on where exactly I wanna go. I’ve been to Shanghai (1 week only though) and I loved the city, but I’m also looking at other candidates and Chengdu caught my eye.

Here’s some information about me:

I’m 20, (will be 21 when I leave for China.)

I will have a decent amount of money with me. (~140k RMB atleast)

My main goal is to learn Chinese and hopefully someday in the (far) future to be able to speak it near-fluently.

I know a lot of Japanese and will actually live in Japan prior coming to China, so I’m no stranger to the chinese characters . But other then that, my knowledge of the language is near 0.

I like long walks on the beach and stuff.

So here are some questions to you China/Chengdu experts:

1. I should have about 140k RMB with me, and from what I understand, you should be able to live off a pretty comfortable life with a budget of around 4-5k RMB / month. (Note that I only need a single room apartment.) Is this true? I was thinking of paying around 2-3k (max) in rent and the rest would be living expenses. Is it possible to push this amount down? I’d imagine that the first few months especially I will be hardcore studying instead of having fun in order to get to a ”conversational” level.

2. There are language schools and universities that offer Chinese education for foreigners. Which do you think are better? To me it seems that universities tend to be cheaper, but this seems to differ. I can also get about 2500 rmb / month support from my goverment if I choose the right place. (Which in China is obviously a lot of money.) How is Chengdu University / Sichuan University? Maybe you guys have some schools that you can recommend. I’m aware of Mandarinclub as well, but I really want to know all my options.

3. Assuming I’m studying, is it possible to work at the same time somewhere part-time? (I should be set economically, but some extra pocket money would never hurt, and it would be a good way to train the language and meet new people.)

4. Are there a lot of foreigners in Chengdu? It seems to be a lot less popular than Shanghai / Beijing but I’d still assume that there would be a ”healthy” amount of us considering it’s a major city.

5. Teaching English is what most foreigners seem to do for a job here. But are there other options? And is it possible for a non-native speaker like me to get a job as a teacher? I would consider my English pretty good for a non-native speaker. Oh and I’m white. Naturally, I’m not expecting (nor need) a lot of money from this.

6. Hows life in general in Chengdu? I heard the food is great and spicy. (I like spicy.) And that there should be a pretty good nightlife as well. (Not as good as Shanghai, but I suppose very few places can beat Shanghai there.) I also heard it’s very laidback place which to me, sounds great.

Sorry for the long post, but any information you guys could share would really help. ^^

Thank you!

[Will]

I’ve only been here a month, but it’s been pretty righteous. Here’s what I can offer:

1.) Woah dude. That’s a $#@!load of yuan. You can go as low as 1200 yuan for a single bedroom, depending on what area you live in. gochengdoo.com has a couple really good articles on where to rent an apartment, discussing the pros and cons of different neighborhoods. If you have a roommate obviously the price between two people dips a good amount.

I will say the first month or two you cough up more cash than you expect for necessities like sheets, blankets, pillows, internet connection, rent (most landlords make you pay at least 6 months in advance), transportation (if you wanna buy a bike or just for taxis and buses) and other things for the apartment. So yeah the first month is a bigger hit financially but you can easily live on less than 3k yuan a month, including rent.

2. First of all, where are you from that your government gives you money for leaving their country to live in another? Pretty awesome. Chengdu Uni is pretty cheap comparatively and a decent school I hear, but they have Mandarin Corners and other places where you can learn at for free and, imho, how fast you learn depends more on how dedicated you are and how much you press your Chinese friends for new words.

3. You can try a Western cafe/bar.

4. You won’t see too many just walking around (I see maybe 1 a day outside of my job) but if you go to Western joints at night they come out like cucarachas.

5. They give teaching jobs to non-native speakers, sure. Just gotta look around. This site is a good start (and gochengdoo.com)

6. Like I said, only been here a month so technically I’m still in the “euphoric” stage of the China experience but I like Chengdu cuz it’s got just enough of everything and probably more of a genuine China feel than Beijing or Shanghai, but I’m only guessin.

Good luck.

[Charlie]

Chengdu is a great place to live, but Beijing is better if your aim is strictly learning Mandarin because you hear a lot of Sichuan dialect here. Chengdu is continually rated as one of the most livable cities in China though since everyone is laid back, the food is great, and it’s said that Chengdu knows how to enjoy life. You don’t see the hustle and bustle here of developed cities on the East coast of China, despite the fact that Chengdu is an enormous city and has a lot of opportunities always emerging.

You have enough money to be studying continuously in Chengdu for several years so no worries about money at all. For 2k RMB you can find a really, really nice place for one person to live (my rent is 2k and I have a pretty nice 3BR with a private rooftop).

Sichuan University is a good place to study and there are several private schools here also like Mandarin Club. University is probably the best value for someone starting out if your goal is just generally reading/writing/speaking (private study is good for reaching specific goals like business Chinese or HSK, etc).

There aren’t that many foreigners in Chengdu. Most places I go, I am the only foreigner around. The exception is Western bars and restaurants, so if you want to find foreigners, that’s not hard either. There aren’t massive crowds of them all over the place like Beijing and Shanghai though.

Good luck, if you have any other questions feel free to post them here.

[Kalle]

Thanks a lot, both of you for your informative answers!

@Towelie, thanks for the heads up about first few months possibly being among the more expensive ones. I hadn’t even thought of it that way.

About foreigners, it sounds ideal to me. I don’t wanna bump into other westerners on every turn, but at the same time it seems if I wanna look them up, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

@Charlie about the dialect, that is something I’ve taken into consideration. But it is also my understanding that people do know how to speak ”proper” Mandarin, and tend to do so with foreigners. China is so vast that it seems that no matter where you go – except Beijing, you will always have some type of dialect.

Even though my main goal is to learn the language, which most likely would be best done in Beijing, I believe my other goals, especially after reading your posts, would be better achieved in Chengdu. ^^

Also I was born in Finland but live in Sweden, I have double citizenship. Both of my countries offer support for people who study overseas as long as the school is approved by the government. That is why it’s easier to find universities that are approved over smaller language schools. (Generally speaking, most universities in the world are approved.)

Heres a new question:

When starting to study, be it university or a language school, how do they teach? Do they teach using English or do they just start with Mandarin and talk to us like children? Like mentioned, I will have experience and can probably ”read” a bit of Chinese prior going there due to experience from Japanese, but other then that, I will be completely new to the language. So to me, it’s interesting to know what I should expect.

Thanks again!

[Charlie]

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@Charlie about the dialect, that is something I’ve taken into consideration. But it is also my understanding that people do know how to speak ”proper” Mandarin, and tend to do so with foreigners. China is so vast that it seems that no matter where you go – except Beijing, you will always have some type of dialect.

A lot of people in Chengdu don’t speak proper Mandarin eg. taxi drivers, people working in the service industry, etc. I’ve gone out of my way to only learn and speak Mandarin – sometimes I get complimented on my Sichuan dialect, which makes me feel bad because it’s hard to avoid speaking like everyone around you. On the other hand though, you’ll be hearing and speaking Chinese all day here, unlike Beijing or Shanghai where there are more foreigners and more English speaking Chinese people.

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When starting to study, be it university or a language school, how do they teach? Do they teach using English or do they just start with Mandarin and talk to us like children?

I’ve never studied in university here so I’ll let someone else answer that, but in the limited private classes that I took they avoided speaking English unless they absolutely had to.

[Will]

Regarding the teaching style, most Chinese teachers are adequately bilingual w/ English, meaning they know enough to explain the grammar points of Chinese in English. Generally, the teacher tries to get you out of being dependent on English as soon as possible so after the first class they’ll only greet you/say goodbye/ask you to read/write/listen in Chinese. (most) teachers know enough English so the transitional period between the languages is relatively smooth.

[Kalle]

Thanks again for great replies.

@ Charlie, I suppose there are pros and cons. But would you say that living in Sichuan would be harmful when it comes to learning Mandarin or would it simply ”color” my language in a certain way? Can a person with a Sichuan dialect speak to a person who uses Putonghua (spelling?) or are the differences too great? Or maybe more directly asked: Do you have any issues talking in Mandarin with people from other parts of the country because of the influence from living in Sichuan?

@ Towelie Thats cool. To me it sounds great and challenging to try and learn a new language, using the language you are trying to learn. (At an early stage.) Where are you studying?

Ideal situation would be for me:

Go to a school that would allow me to receive financial support from the government.

Work part time somewhere at some point. (After I learned some basic chinese.)

The combined income from these 2 might actually make me more money then I would spend. ^^

Thanks for replies guys, might ask more soon. =P

[Charlie]

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I suppose there are pros and cons. But would you say that living in Sichuan would be harmful when it comes to learning Mandarin or would it simply ”color” my language in a certain way? Can a person with a Sichuan dialect speak to a person who uses Putonghua (spelling?) or are the differences too great? Or maybe more directly asked: Do you have any issues talking in Mandarin with people from other parts of the country because of the influence from living in Sichuan?

It will color your Mandarin if you don’t go out of your way to prevent that from happening. Some foreigners who’ve learned Chinese in Chengdu (or Chongqing) come out speaking straight Sichuan dialect by interacting with people in teahouses, taxi cabs or other places where Sichuan dialect is more common than Mandarin. If you speak Sichuan dialect people can understand you, but will make certain assumptions about you. It’s like if you speak with a Southern (Louisiana or South Carolina) accent in the US. If you speak Sichuan dialect in Sichuan though, people will open up to you and give you respect immediately.

I’ve gone out of my way to learn and speak Mandarin, so I don’t have any problems communicating with Chinese people from other regions. The only downside of that is that in Chengdu I don’t get extra props from locals for speaking their local dialect. No big deal though, I never had much particular interest in learning Sichuanhua and I was always more drawn to Mandarin.

[Ye Ming]

This is a nice topic for me aswell, since im going to study in Chengdu from September ’12 ìf I graduate this year… I was wondering till what extent it is (il-) or legal to work on a student visa ? Are there restrictions, how about taxes etc ?

[Charlie]

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This is a nice topic for me aswell, since im going to study in Chengdu from September ’12 ìf I graduate this year… I was wondering till what extent it is (il-) or legal to work on a student visa ? Are there restrictions, how about taxes etc ?

It is illegal to work on a student visa, but it’s loosely enforced. It depends on what kind of work you’re doing though. Some employers will want you to switch over to a visa under their control, others won’t care. If you do private classes, no one will care. If you’re teaching part time at an established English school (I’ll assume you’re talking about teaching) they might have a problem with you being on a student visa.

[Ye Ming]

Ah i see,

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(I’ll assume you’re talking about teaching)

My bad, i was actually more thinking of working in a bar/restaurant/club… any experience on that ?

[Kalle]

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It will color your Mandarin if you don’t go out of your way to prevent that from happening. Some foreigners who’ve learned Chinese in Chengdu (or Chongqing) come out speaking straight Sichuan dialect by interacting with people in teahouses, taxi cabs or other places where Sichuan dialect is more common than Mandarin. If you speak Sichuan dialect people can understand you, but will make certain assumptions about you. It’s like if you speak with a Southern (Louisiana or South Carolina) accent in the US. If you speak Sichuan dialect in Sichuan though, people will open up to you and give you respect immediately.

I’ve gone out of my way to learn and speak Mandarin, so I don’t have any problems communicating with Chinese people from other regions. The only downside of that is that in Chengdu I don’t get extra props from locals for speaking their local dialect. No big deal though, I never had much particular interest in learning Sichuanhua and I was always more drawn to Mandarin.

Great. That sounds fine to me. I speak all of the languages I know currently with a certain dialect / accent so I don’t mind at all having an certain dialect. ^^ What I was worried about was that it would somehow damage my Mandarin. There are some dialects in Sweden for example that no one else except the people speaking the dialect can understand, even though it’s classified as ”Swedish”

And in the end, I will probably do the same as you – attempt to keep it as ”standard” as possible.

Thanks for the wonderful replies man, after browsing some other forums dedicated for other cities, it really looks like it will be Chengdu for me. 🙂

@ Ye Ming, if I may ask, where are and what are you going to study in Chengdu? Just out of curiosity.

Thanks.

[Ye Ming]

I’m planning on studying at one of the uni’s in Chengdu. most likely its going to be South-west University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) but still thinking between SWUFE, Sichuan Uni and Southwest uni for nationalities. Maybe going to open a topic on pro’s and con’s of the uni’s but I’m not so sure how many ppl have experience with the uni’s on this forum. And its going to be a non-degree chinese language course, which all universities in Chengdu offer. Chengdu is a very nice city, not sure about student life but life in general is good in Chengdu !

[Charlie]

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Thanks for the wonderful replies man, after browsing some other forums dedicated for other cities, it really looks like it will be Chengdu for me. 🙂

No problem, glad to help 🙂

[Charlie]

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My bad, i was actually more thinking of working in a bar/restaurant/club… any experience on that ?

Probably no one will care about what kind of visa you’re on in that situation.

[Alexander Muir]

Hey, so I’ve got some related questions. I spent last year teaching in Beijing, and I’m thinking about trying a different city. What I’m looking for:

1. Opportunities to speak Mandarin more (too easy to speak English all the time in Beijing.) I think I speak it pretty well, but if I can get closer to an immersive environment I think it would be really helpful.

2. Decent pay. I was at 5k last year in Beijing. I felt like it was more than enough to live, but I’ve got student loans to start thinking about!

3. Decent quality of life. It’d be great if any city in China could beat Beijing’s air. Also, having lots of things to do (dance, drink, hike, explore, etc) would be nice. Having a Bookworm in Chengdu is certainly a plus 🙂

4. Opportunities to grow beyond teaching English. In Beijing or Shanghai, if you stick around long enough, you’ll get the chance to become at least some sort of professional. If I really like my new city, it would be nice to know if there was some precedent for people staying.

How do you think 成都 rates by these measures? I’m also considering Suzhou, Kunming, Hong Kong, Beijing and Taibei. If you’ve been to those places, how do you think Chengdu compares?

Thanks!

[Danielle]

@Alexander Muir – to answer your question about air quality, if you’re looking for truly good air then head to Kunming. I’m sure you’ve heard all the stuff about the sun and lack of pollution there and it’s pretty much true. Blue skies/sunshine 90% of the time whereas Chengdu is dark and cloudy 90% of the time. That being said I find Chengdu a lot more fun and interesting. Kunming is just a small town, things get pretty same ol same ol there.

Suzhou is really beautiful, fun and the proximity to Shanghai is always a plus however the weather sucks. I lived not far from there for a couple years (Hangzhou) and found it super damp, horribly hot and humid summers, cold wet winters… Chengdu thus far is considerably dryer and less extreme.

[Charlie]

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2. Decent pay. I was at 5k last year in Beijing. I felt like it was more than enough to live, but I’ve got student loans to start thinking about!

You can easily make more than that in Chengdu teaching English, no worries there.

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3. Decent quality of life. It’d be great if any city in China could beat Beijing’s air. Also, having lots of things to do (dance, drink, hike, explore, etc) would be nice. Having a Bookworm in Chengdu is certainly a plus 🙂

Chengdu is consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in China. There’s a lot to do and if you count attractions within a few hours of Chengdu (historic mountains, Tibetan areas, etc), there are an incredible amount of things to see and do.

The pollution is way, way less of an issue than in Beijing. Especially recently since everyone has been talking about this: Beijing Pollution Goes From ‘Hazardous’ to Off the Charts, Literally

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4. Opportunities to grow beyond teaching English. In Beijing or Shanghai, if you stick around long enough, you’ll get the chance to become at least some sort of professional. If I really like my new city, it would be nice to know if there was some precedent for people staying.

Chengdu has this also. There are more opportunities in Beijing but there’s also more competition.

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How do you think 成都 rates by these measures? I’m also considering Suzhou, Kunming, Hong Kong, Beijing and Taibei. If you’ve been to those places, how do you think Chengdu compares?

It depends on what’s important to you, so it’s hard to speak objectively. Kunming is beautiful but boring, Hong Kong is exciting but a rat race, etc. Chengdu is a nice middle ground in a lot of respects. The best way that I can describe Chengdu (and this is a description that I use often) is that it’s laid back, friendly and comfortable like a small city but has big city opportunities. Not to mention it’s among the fastest growing cities in the world, which the other cities you mentioned are definitely not. Taipei, Beijing and Hong Kong have already seen their bursts of development and Kunming is still a ways off, but Chengdu is experiencing it right now.

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