Study in China

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About China

In the very beginning, I would like to throw a light upon the courses offered in China. There are thousands of courses offered in this country. Among them, few popular ones are bachelor's, master's and diploma courses in Engineering Sciences, Medicine, Environmental Studies, Humanities, Tourism and Hospitality, Social Sciences, Economics, Social Work, Information Technology and lots more. There is a high demand for these courses among students of other countries. This is because; China is one of the leading countries in designing innovative techniques and providing medical aid to patients. Along with this, you can also think of studying Economics or Social Sciences in China. A lot of students complete their graduation in India and apply for scholarships in M.Sc. in Economics or Social Sciences in China. You will get a greater exposure to such multidimensional subjects in this country. If you have a bachelor's in any native language in India, you can try to apply for the respective master's degree in China. In China, there is a high demand for language teachers. You can apply for such positions after you complete the master's course.
Here is a list of the names of a few universities and the subjects taught there, which are opted by Indian students.

1. Beijing University-Popular Subjects-Art & Design, Human Anatomy, Business Management, English Language and Literature, etc.
2. University of Science and Technology of China-Popular Subjects-Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering Sciences.
3. Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Popular Subjects-Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, etc.
4. Xiamen University-Popular Subjects-Environment Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Automation, Civil Engineering, etc.
5. Fudan University-Popular Subjects-Clinical Medicine, Economics, History, Philosophy and Software.

About Country

China is a large country located in Eastern Asia. The climate of the north China plain is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. The inner area of China includes two regions in South-eastern China, namely, the North China Plain and the Chang Jiang Basins. The North-Eastern Plain experiences short, warm summers. In winter this plain remains dry and cold. As the southern part of this coastal plain link to the rest of China, this was used in ancient times by external invaders as a route to inner China. Other than this you have mountains, plateaus, deserts. Snowstorms can occur in the winter and sandstorms in the desert areas.
China is a top ranking country in technology. So you will get a first-hand experience in a lot of technologies. You can also innovate and develop new technologies and theories, using their infrastructure. A lot of Indian scientists use Chinese infrastructure to develop better products. Such things are also possible through student exchange programs. Cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen are few of the Chinese cities that are highly preferred by the students. Among them, Beijing is a very costly city. Nonetheless, students prefer this city as the career prospects are high in this city. In fact, Beijing and Shanghai are one of the most internationally well-connected cities. If you wish to have a quick experience of the environment of China, then you can take the help of the student exchange programs.

Quick Facts

• The other name of the country of China is the People's Republic of China.
• This country has given us a civilization that is as old as 6000 BC. That is why it is the favourite destination of a lot of historians and archaeologists.
• The Yangtze River in China is considered to be the fourth longest river in the world.
• The country of China is just behind the USA in the economy. It is the second largest economy in the world.
• The world's longest used written language belongs to China.
• One of the most pursued hobby of the people of China is philately or stamp collection.

Admission Process in China

When you apply to a Chinese university, the following things are required for a smooth admission process. The following factors are to be taken care of after you have selected a university and subject to study in China.

• Age-The first thing that you need to take care of is your age. If you want to study a course in China and that too bachelor's degree, then you must be under the age of 30 years. In China, you cannot apply for a bachelor's degree if you have either crossed 30 at the time of application or you will, when the course will actually start. If you wish to study master's degree, then your age should be below 40.
• Passport-It is obvious that if you wish to study in China, then you require a passport. Start the process of passport application much before you wish to study abroad. The validity of the passport must remain for more than one year at the time of application.
• Language-In some bachelor's degrees, the knowledge of speaking and writing in English is required. To assess how well you can speak and write in English, there are a few competitive examinations like TOEFL/ IELTS. You need a valid score in either of these to apply in China.
• Time Factor-This time factor is different from that of the age factor. You can apply to study a course either before the end of July or before the end of April. The former is referred to as the spring semester, and the latter is referred to as the autumn semester. When you are applying for a course, make sure the session in which you want to take the admission and apply accordingly.

Student Visa Application Process

Only two types of student visas are there, namely X1 visa and X2 visa. The former is a long-term visa. It is issued to the students who want to study a course for more than 6 months. There is an upper limit on the duration for which you can study in a Chinese university with that visa. The upper time limit of this visa is 5 years. So you will have to be very careful to complete all your pending papers and backlogs within those 5 years. If you are opting for further higher studies, then you will have to renew your visa at least one year before the visa and passport validation expires. You will have to apply for a temporary residence permit after entering China from the local Public Security Bureau. The second type, that is, X2 visa is applicable for students who are applying for the 6 month certificate course. You don't need to apply for any temporary residence permit after entering China, in case of X2 visas. It is advisable to apply for X1 visa instead of X2. This is because of the following reason. You will definitely pursue higher studies after you complete your current course in China. That will take more time than 6 months. So, if you enrol in a one year certificate course in China and then get a chance to study other higher level courses, X1 visa will be useful for you.


Documents required for a visa application in a Chinese university

1. First of all you must apply to any Chinese college universities to be able to apply for student visa of China. You need an online invitation letter and the admission notice to start the visa application process.
2. Next, you must do a thorough medical check-up of yours. It is very important for you to prove that you are physically fit. A lot of Chinese universities make sure that the foreign student doesn't contain any contagious viral or bacterial infection. They might ask you to provide with the respective medical reports and doctor's certificate.
3. You need to submit an age proof, that will state that you are under the age of 30 years for application in undergraduate courses. For master's courses, you have to show the proof that you are under the age of 40 years.
4. You must provide the proof of completion of senior school or undergraduate course, that is, the mark sheet and pass certificate of your senior school or undergraduate degree.
5. You must have cleared either TOEFL 550 or IELTS 5.5 or HSK4 or any latest competitive examination in English or Mandarin Language. The former two tests are applicable for courses that are English instructed. The latter is for courses in Liberal Arts, Economics, MBBS, etc. This is because these are Chinese instructed programs.
6. You need to produce the original and a photocopy of your photo identity proof. Your passport will be sufficient in this regard. As it is mentioned in the earlier section, your passport should have a remaining validity of more than one year.
8. You should submit your passport for visa issuance, at least one year before its validity finishes. The passport must have a minimum of 2 blank visa pages left.
9. You must submit a passport size photograph along with your passport. This photo should be a recent one of yours. Don't give a printout of your selfie taken from your mobile. You need the photograph in a proper dimension and on a proper background. Otherwise, your visa application will be rejected and automatically your selection in the Chinese university will be cancelled. Always go to a professional studio that is expert in taking pictures of students applying for a visa. Some of the important requirements are:
   
   • In the passport size photograph, the face and the neck should be clearly visible.
   • The eyes, ears or any other part of the face should not be covered. Hence wearing of headgears or hats are prohibited. They are only allowed if it is a religious compulsion.
   • The background of the picture should be white and not any other colour. There should not be any border around the picture.
   • The face should not be too close to the camera or too far away.
   • Since the structure of a human face changes within a year, photographs that are more than 6 months old are not allowed for the application of student visa in China.
   • This restriction is especially applicable to girls. The face and neck should not be covered by any ornament.
   • The photograph can be of a size of maximum 120KB.
   • The size of the photograph should be, 33mm (in width) x 48mm (in height).
10. You have to submit the invitation letter from the University of China, the admission notice in the visa application office. You will have to sign on that notice where the term applicant's signature is printed. You have to show it in the visa consulate office. Sometimes some universities post the admission notice immediately after they select the candidate. The last date of admission in the university is also sent along with the letter containing the admission notice. So you need to submit the printed invitation letter and the admission notice in the visa consulate office. You also need to submit the photocopies of these documents in the consulate. Without these two your visa application will be incomplete.
11. This next document is known as a JW201 or JW202 form. It is mandatory for the Chinese college to send this form and the admission notice with their official stamp. After you receive this letter from the Chinese university, you will have to check for the stamp. If by any chance it is not there, you will have to notify the authorities of the university. They will resend you the letters. The necessary fields that are applicable for you, will be already filled by the college. You need to sign the form and maybe tick upon few fields. You will have to submit this JW201 or JW202 with the visa application. All these will be scrutinized before accepting your visa application.

You need to fill the visa application very carefully. A small error might result in the rejection of the application. Say, for example, the form asks you how many times you have visited China prior to the application. Let's say you had not gone to China at all. Then you might leave a blank text box as an answer. But this way, your form will be rejected. So always write not applicable or give a N/A sign in that box. Scrutinize every question and answer all of them correctly. If you provide any wrong information, intentionally or unintentionally, you will not be able to move to China to study ever in life. After you are absolutely sure, print the form. You cannot correct the form after printing. In fact, the printed form must not be touched by ink at all. All the documents that you submit will be scrutinized before accepting your visa application.

Lifestyle

For a student to start a life in China, two things are very important. The first thing is accommodation and the second thing is drinking water. The accommodation facilities are already discussed before. Drinking water in China can be of two types. Either you can buy packaged or mineral waters for drinking. Doing that all through the year will be very costly. Hence, you should boil the water before drinking it. You can eat either in the university canteen or restaurants. The restaurants here are quite cheap. The food cost is around half the price of that of the USA. You will find a lot of expensive restaurants also, which serve you food in no less than 10 US dollars. But whether it is a cheap or an expensive restaurant, you don't need to tip the waiters. There will be a section of Indian students who might be purely vegetarian. They may not like the non-vegetarian items in the Chinese restaurants. For such people, it is best to buy the necessary groceries from the market and prepare the food at home. The grocery bills could be shared among the roommates. You will find the grocery prices of a few items like eggs, oranges, tomatoes, onions, etc. to be very close to Indian prices or with a difference of around Rs.60 - 70 from the Indian prices. This is quite cheap in comparison to many other countries. There are a lot of supermarkets in China. Most of the brands that you find in India are also available in China. This means that the young section will practically feel at home in China. China is becoming one of the finest countries in providing education and the infrastructure of academics. You must be ready to be in an ambience of a strict discipline. You will have to be very punctual. Tardiness is not acceptable in universities of China. If you wish to get a job in China, then you must have a good academic record there. So always perform well in the examinations. If your passport and visa have still some time left to expire even after you pass the master's course in China, then you can apply for a work permit. My suggestion would be to search for a job in parallel. You will be able to get a work permit easily if your academic record is good and you are on the verge of getting a job in China.

Cost of Living for Students

The cost of living of students is not very high in China. It is quite affordable and that is why there is a high demand of studying medical and engineering courses in China by foreign students. If you wish to study in a private university in China, then your tuition fee would be in the range of Rs.5.5 lakh to Rs.10.5 lakh per year. Otherwise, the tuition fee is even lower. If you are applying in a public university, then you will have to pay in the range of Rs.3 lakh to Rs.8.5 lakh per year.
If you wish to stay out the campus of the university or if the hostel facilities of the university are very high for you, then you will have to include the transportation costs in your cost of living. The city buses charge 0.30 US dollars per ride at maximum. If your university is near to the metro station, then you can think of taking metro up and down. The cost is 0.50 US dollars per ride. You can also opt for a student pass. With that student pass, you can board any public transportation by virtue of that pass. The cost of that pass is 15 US dollars per month.

• Now comes the costlier part of your cost of living. This is the accommodation cost. If you want to stay in a rented flat, then you need spend in between 300-1000 US dollars per month. Along with the rent, you will also have to pay around 50-60 US dollars per month for the extra utilities like electricity or gas.
• You may find a residence hall cheaper than a rented flat. In that case, you need not pay more than 500 US dollars per month. A residence hall is like a dormitory. You may have to share your apartment with someone else. You will get a bed, a desk, a chair, a wardrobe and a few other amenities within the residence hall and you don't have to pay anything extra for that, month wise. You may get a housekeeper who will clean your house on a weekly basis. You might change that to daily basis. This housekeeper will be arranged by the landlord himself. You will also get electricity, internet and gas facilities. The only thing is that you will have to pay the salary of that housekeeper, bills of electricity, internet and gas separately with your monthly rent.
• There are hostel facilities also. Sometimes the universities have hostel facilities in their campus. You can avail a hostel within or outside the university campus. The hostels outside the university campus may cost you up to 600 US dollars per month. This depends on the extra facilities that you opt for.

Documents for University Admissions in China

• Academic Documents-The next important thing to submit in the college is your academic documents. You have to send scanned copy of mark sheets of class 10,12 for getting admission in graduation and that of class 10,12, graduation for master's courses. You also require submitting the mark sheet and passing certificate of your master's course for admission in the PhD. courses.
• Character-Your past track record must be clean. You must not have been prosecuted for any illegal action in the recent past to be able to apply. If that happens, then you will not get any proper referee for you. Reference and background check is a very important aspect. You need a written certificate from your local police station or a clearance from the visa office about your criminal record. The latter is applicable for students who have already visited foreign countries for education purpose. You must prove that you have not committed any criminal offence that will legally bar you from studying in China.
• References-Therefore, you require 3 or more referees who will give you a good character and intelligence certificate. So if you have performed any illegitimate act in the past, you will face a problem in getting such reference letters and hence admission in the college.
• Photographs-You require a few passport size photographs. Generally, one passport size photograph is enough for each university or college.

If you can submit all the above documents, then the university will scrutinize your documents. If they find your application to be suitable for their college, they will send you an online invitation. The invitation letter from the University of China will say that they accept your candidature in their course. There will be a separate admission notice that will be posted to you via airmail or EMS. Along with the above documents, a JW201 or JW202 form will be generated by the Chinese university. So if your admission is confirmed, then you will receive either JW201 or JW202 form via post along with the admission notice.

Secondly, you can take the help of external organizations like CUCAS. CUCAS is a separate platform where you can post your application to study at a chosen Chinese university. It will help your application reach the intended recipient in a proper format. CUCAS takes up the entire responsibility of your application at a Chinese university. They will give you regular updates on the current status of your application. Once you are selected by the university, you can select and book your accommodations in the university or outside the campus through CUCAS. For information regarding accommodation facilities refer to the following sections. You can also use CACAS wallets to transfer your money from your account to the account of the University of China. You can log onto their website for more details.