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Summer in China

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carolynW
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Summer in China

Post by carolynW » Thu, 08 Jan 2009 2:20 am

I decided to send my 2 boys to CNIS, they will be 3 and 5. I would like to use the opportunity we are in Asia (not sure for how long) to brush up on their mandarin as much as possible and cultural exposure. As they will have a long summer break in July and August, I am thinking of taking them to China for 4 weeks.

Am wondering whether there are any expats that lived there before and can advise on...

1.) places where locals that will speak decent mandarin
2.) countryside with access to city (tho not that big a deal, am trying to avoid cities like beijing smog)
3.) would we be able to rent a house?

Maybe what are your favourite places and why? My first 3 shortlists, Nanjing, Chongqing and Chengdu, seem to be the hottest cities in summer. Any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Or if you know links or other places I can post this question?

sgpdavid
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Post by sgpdavid » Tue, 20 Jan 2009 7:58 pm

Hi,

As I'm not Chinese and have never been there you may want to just ignore me, but Mandarin is the dialect originating from the Beijing area, so if you want to find

>places where locals that will speak decent mandarin

I suggest you try somewhere near to Beijing! My mandarin teacher is from there and I heard it's very nice, although I guess the smog is a problem. Bear in mind that in lots of places (Shanghai is one I think) people will speak their local dialect first and Mandarin second.

carolynW
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Post by carolynW » Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:52 pm

Thanks for that, I realised that too and someone suggested Dalian which seems quite nice, I also stumbled upon a website where this travel agent (reasonably priced too) arranges tours, homes, kiddie stuff mainly for US adopted children but can do special requests as well.

The 3 cities I chose actually has some historical ties for me as my granddad left shanghai during the Sino Japanese war and travelled thru those cities but I think their dialects may be quite heavy.

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Vaucluse
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Post by Vaucluse » Mon, 26 Jan 2009 5:46 pm

My brother and his wfe worked in Beijing for four years . . . loved the first six months and tried to get out the redt of the time . . .

Beijing is a difficult place to live, smog, sandstorms, freezing temps, traffic etc etc etc . . .

Beijing Mandarin, as far as I know, is understood, and made fun of, by most Chinese.
......................................................

'nuff said Image

bigfilsing
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Post by bigfilsing » Mon, 26 Jan 2009 8:20 pm

Why the nice approach...it's a dump> Horrible s&^t hole that no person in their right mind would want ot live in.

Start a poll???

Who wants to live in Beijing :D
Last edited by bigfilsing on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

carolynW
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Post by carolynW » Mon, 26 Jan 2009 9:21 pm

I would like to avoid Beijing with the kids... I want them to experience China and hopefully not a big city environment but good mandarin to practice.

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Post by andy21 » Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:26 am

Might want to try Suzhou or Hangzhou, beautiful not-too-large cities with plenty of history. Less than an hour from Shanghai as well.

Rich history of culture there as well. Su Dongpo, if you know who he is, for example was an admistrator of Hangzhou for a time. Travel time to Shaoxing is also reasonable, another place with rich cultural and political history. What I found very interesting there was when walking through some parts of the city, certain houses had plaques attached to them stating how some person of renown was born there, spent some time there or perhaps wandered by once upon a time!

I personally liked Hangzhou more than Suzhou. Had some very pleasant experiences with the people there.

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Post by davidtkl » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:47 pm


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Boog
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Post by Boog » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 2:20 pm

Nanjing, Chongqing and Chengdu

out of the above cities; nanjing is the only city where 99% people speaks fluent mandarin. partly because it's was the former capital of China + it's the only city in China where their streets are "infested" with book stores(high literacy).

carolynW
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Post by carolynW » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 3:10 pm

Thanks for the suggestions on the places and books. Will look it up.

Yep of know Su dongbo, that should be interesting.

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