hi everyone

Hi user4569.12212932 :) I have been checking out schools in China actually, and thinking about this program an FuDan University since my teacher here in Scotland is in that very department (he's a linguistics professor, just here on a year to help the Confucius Institute): http://www.fso.fudan.edu.cn/language.htm Would appreciate anyone's feed back as well.

Hi,Jim I'd studied Chinese in Beijing & Shanghai longtime ago. I think Beijing is the best choice for you to study mandarin, because in Shanghai, they speak dialect and it is quit defferent from Mandarin. So I recomend you to go to Beijing, except you want to work in China.(Shanghai is much more convinient than Beijing, I think) The problem is that there are too many students from foreign countries to study Chinese in Beijing, perhaps, it's not so good for you. (but same as Shanghai)

user4569, have you considered studying in Taiwan? There are some advantages to studying Mandarin in Taiwan, versus the mainland. One is that Taiwan still uses the traditional writing system, which China has replaced with simplified characters. Knowing only simplified cuts the student off from thousands of years of Chinese literature and history. This may not be important to you though. Here are some resources for programs in Taiwan: - Mandarin Studies Program : National Chengchi University - International Chinese Learning Program : National Taiwan University - National Taiwan Normal University I'm sure there are a number of CPod users who have studied in Taiwan, and can provide more information.

Hi Jim, You may be able to get more information about your question over at Chinese-Forums.com. They have a specific discussion group about studying in China.