Here’s some advice from someone who went on a year abroad in China last year.
Packing – Obviously you’ll want to pack as little as possible. I wouldn’t say that was what I did. I had a big suitcase, a carry on, a big backpack, and a little backpack. The main things that took up space were clothes (for summer and for cold weather – including a big coat), books, and toiletries/medicine.
I brought all the clothes I thought I would need for the year. I did a bit of shopping before I went. I did have a successful trip to H&M at one point. I found replacement jeans at Zara. I also invested in two sets of thermals at Uniqlo for winter. Major international chains were generally the only place I could buy clothes, except for the odd purchase of a top on the street or something. I have broad shoulders, which ended up making it difficult for me to buy clothes in China. So that’s something to keep in mind. I could have brought less athletic stuff though, because Decathlon is prevalent in China, so buying hiking/outdoor wear is cheap and pretty easy there. I would recommend bringing all the medicines you might need for a year. I stocked up on everything from ibuprofen to immodium. I never went to a Chinese doctor or hospital once, because I had everything I needed (and I was lucky and didn’t get sick). I also brought anti-malaria medicine, because I went to India. Make sure to consider those kinds of medicines when getting vaccinations. I also brought a year’s worth of tampons, because they don’t sell them in China. Like, at all. So bring what you will want for the year. As far as the ‘unnecessary’ stuff, I brought pictures and stuff to hang up in my room. I brought a sleeping bag and a separate sheet – for travelling and in case I didn’t have bedding at first.
Administrative Stuff – My first month is China was completely dominated by administrative tasks. It took about three times as long as I thought it would to do any of these tasks. All in all, it took me about 6-8 weeks to settle in. The main thing is you have to go to the Entry and Exit Bureau and get your residence permit. This means waiting 3 weeks with no passport, which unfortunately means you can’t travel during the Golden Week Holiday. But I did find a trick or two to make it better. In Hangzhou, you can book an appointment online (here) to turn in your paperwork. This will save you 4 hours or so of waiting in the office.
Getting a SIM card and a bank account were pretty easy. I just went in, tried to understand as much as I could (realizing the details would be lost on me forever). I recommend getting a SIM and bank account as soon as possible. You’ll have to wait for your residence permit to make a bank account. But once you have a phone number and a Chinese bank account the world (mostly Taobao and AliPay) is your oyster.
Accommodation – As part of the program I was on, we could stay in dorms on campus at the university. I highly recommend if you have this option that you take that. It will probably be the cheapest thing you can get. I got an ensuite single room for 1500RMB a month. Electricity was extra if you went over the allotted amount. Also wifi was extra (and really, really horrible). That’s a pretty great deal, though. In October, since I couldn’t go anywhere during Golden Week, I looked for flats/apartments. I originally looked through letting agencies, but they weren’t willing to help us find Chinese flatmates, and they charged an extortionate fee. In the end, I met my future flatmate through a language exchange website. She met my friend for coffee and it came up they were both looking for flats. Our Chinese flatmate found us a flat to go look at on Douban 豆瓣 which is kind of like e-bay or craigslist. We saw the flat and it was dirty but overall really nice. Since it was the first time the landlady had let out the flat, we named a price (the same 1500RMB we had been paying!) and we wrote our own contract (which was a great language learning task). There were really stressful times in looking for a flat, but it was all done within about three weeks. I really liked living in my own flat and I became really close with my Chinese flatmate! By the way, after I moved, I had to re-register within 48 hours at my local police station. Make sure you do this. The police came to our house one time to check that we had our registration.
Working in China – I had limited experience with working in China. At Edinburgh, you have the opportunity to apply for the Eric Liddell Scholarship, which was more than enough money to live on for the year. I would highly recommend looking for scholarships to study in China, especially since Western funds go a long way in China. I did teach English for a while, but I personally didn’t like it. To be fair, it wasn’t the ideal situation (long commute, big classes, back-to-back lessons, preparation time). But my main piece of advice is to be picky about what jobs you take. You can easily earn 200RMB an hour in smaller cities like Hangzhou and 300-400RMB an hour in Shanghai or Beijing. Make sure you discuss the details of the work and payment in advance. But know that you could seriously make a lot of money in China teaching English. I also had the opportunity to go on a free trip with this TV show that was filming. They took travel bloggers, models, professional photographers, and the TV crew along. I ended up getting along really well with one of the Chinese phographers and she took some really nice pictures of me and sent them to me. I also got to do so much cool stuff on that trip. If you look out for this kind of opportunity, it’s not very competitive to get this kind of thing. I even got paid at the end (something like 500RMB) for writing an article for the HangzhouPlus website. I also got some translation jobs through the host of that TV show, who I got on well with (he liked me because I spoke Chinese).
Technology and the internet – Obviously censored internet is a huge concern for spending time in China. I used ExpressVPN when I was in China. It worked really well, but I think now it’s being cracked down on. From time to time internet censorship will be cracked down on in China. It’s impossible to avoid.
Somethings I did that helped – use WeChat to talk to family and friends. You will save so much time if you can just convince your friends and family to get WeChat. Chinese internet is optimized for Chinese apps like WeChat so they work very well even when the internet is bad.
Consider getting a Chinese phone. If it’s about time for you to get a new phone (or if your phone gets nicked in the Shanghai metro like mine did), consider going for a Chinese one. I got the top of the line Huawei phone and it was nearly half the price of a Samsung or iPhone. Also it comes with all the Chinese apps, so it works well in China. You can change the language to Chinese for a boost in language practice. Also the higher end models will work in the UK and Europe after you come back.
Get a good SIM/data package. I had China Unicom 中国联通 and had good experience. You can top up your phone on WeChat or AliPay. If you get a good deal, you’ll have practically unlimited data where you are living. Data for other provinces is more limited, but you can buy special domestic packages through AliPay. That’s a good tip for when you’re traveling!
Use Chinese apps wherever possible. I used gaode maps 高德地图 for navigation and public transport info – it’s so good! I used Weibo 微博 to read news/articles in Chinese. I used Wangyi or QQ 网易云音乐/QQ to listen to music. It’s free to stream and even download music. I even bought some music through those apps. I bought a Western artist’s new album for 13RMB. I used 淘宝 to order stuff online, but you can also use it to buy event tickets and stuff like that.
Travelling – I have written an post about travelling in China, with accompanying posts about different places I recommend going in China, split up into sections: cities, natural places, and destinations for art, culture, and history.
I have also written a post about packing for trips in China.
Travelling is the best thing you can do on the year abroad. You get to explore different parts of China and get out of your international student bubble at your university. You can be totally immersed in Chinese (or other dialects). You get to learn new words, learn about history and culture in person, and get to see that there are some parts of China where the sky is blue. I can’t say enough about how important it is to see China, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed or unhappy.
Studying and Language Learning – if you’re going to China to learn Chinese, then learning the language is your full time job and you’re there to immerse yourself.
I wrote a post about my favorite methods for self-studying Chinese.
Depending on what kind of language course you have, you might not be that challenged or interested, which was the case for me. I wish I had put more effort into self-studying material that didn’t have anything to do with my course there. I did kind of figure it out, but that post has a lot more detail about finding your own ways to study and immerse yourself.
No matter what you do, though, you should take HSK 5 before you leave China. I took it in May, right before I went travelling and then left China. Your Chinese only really deteriorates when you leave China, so it’s best to take it on the year abroad. I recommend everyone take it, because you can put it on your CV and if you’re applying for anything in China, it will prove to those institutions or companies that you have a good level. I’ve only heard of one or two programs that ask for an HSK 6 qualification. For most places, HSK 5 will be fine.
The weird factor – Or maybe the ‘China factor.’ Basically, China is a weird and wonderful place. You will have an adventure every time you leave your flat. You will have so many stories to tell. Your downstairs neighbors will have ritual fires in a metal pan in the middle of their living room.
You will see people burning stuff on the street (yeah, a lot of burning things).
You will go get breakfast at 6:30 am and find a bad-ass security lady, a shirtless man, and a scared-looking dog all waiting for jianbing 煎饼.
You may also go to the gym and find someone filming someone using nunchucks really impressively.
You might end up chilling in a cafe only to realize you’ve been in a brothel all afternoon. It took me a long time to really embrace this aspect of China. It’s the thing I miss the most – people just do all kinds of things in public. If you embrace it too, you can be part of it. I found it very freeing just to make yourself at home, even in public. You never know what you’re going to see in China, and you’ll probably never find such excitement in mundane activities like buying breakfast anywhere else. I hope this is helpful. Feel free to comment with any further questions!
