I plan to study Mandarin in Taipei, but tend to read that mainlanders have a problem understanding people who learned Chinese in Taiwan. So I would like to also study in Beijing for a year or so. I like international cities like New York and Chicago, not small cities like Tulsa or Miami. So Beijing seems to be the only option that fits the bill. Any thoughts?
How Tolerable Is The Air In Beijing? Is It So Bad That You’d Recommend Not Living There Briefly?
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If you suffer from asthma or skin conditions or have breathing problems then I would suggest you study in another city. Last year a mauve warning was issue, which is the highest colour warning and it was twice the limit for a red warning. The worse times for the air are from late autumn to winter, then the cold air drags down the population from the atmosphere and the coal power stations fire up to heat peoples homes.
There are other cities you can study Chinese in Shanghai, and I hear there a couple of places in inner Mongolia. The ones in inner Mongolia may not have as exciting night live as in Beijing or Shanghai but the country side or far more beautiful in the summer time.
True, the Mandarin in Beijing is certainly good. But it will be good in any North/Eastern city. There is also Tianjin, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin.
I have no figures on hand, but air quality should be better in coastal cities, try Tianjin or Dalian. There are still very large cities with an international community. True, less then Beijing, but you go there for study, right? Less distraction will be better.
they have a difficulty understanding since taiwanese have a little bit of a different accent, plus they write in the traditional chinese manner. mainland China uses some sort of short cut way of writing.
…so you want to study mandarin?
i recently went to Beijing for that and yes, the air pollution is very bad. It’s a clean place but then when you look up, you’ll realize the air is very unclean and maybe even harmful.
how about going to Xiamen instead? i learned a lot going there to study too…much more than i did at beijing. beijing is more of tours (such beautiful tourist spots…). Xiamen’s streets arent as clean as that of beijing’s…but im confident that the air is much cleaner and safer. compared to the very massive beijing, it is quite small, but then it’s not all that small. plus, its known as the door to china.
enjoy!! hehe hope you learn a lot there, and that i’ve helped!
If you hate small cities.. why Beijing????
Shanghai is so much bigger and way more international with higher standards by far; it is the economic capital of China.
If you like old, small neighborhoods study in Beijing
if you like skyscrapers, exciting nightlife, and more of an international feel, then Shanghai is a lot better.
Taiwanese speak mandarin exactly the same as Chinese people do.
You could go to Jinan in Shandong province. It’s still in the north and there’s tons of schools. It’s a major city but smaller than BJ and SH. It is considered to be one of the cleanest cities in China for pollution standards, whatever that means … I have athsma and when I went to BJ in the summer it was sooty and dusty but I had no problems with my breathing at all.
The air isn’t that bad. Beijing isn’t your only option however, (I’m saying this even though I like Beijing better than all of Southern China’s other cities), you have Shanghai and Hong Kong as well to pick from.
Beijing is definitely the best choice if you want to learn Mandarin. The air condition there is not that bad as you heard about. Think about the huge number of foreigners living in Beijing for many many years.
Shanghai is ok too, but the locals would like to speak dialect of shanghai which is very hard to understand.
p.s.The locals are not majority.
It’s not really that bad… Since you’re so concerned… Maybe you would like to try QingDao in ShanDong Province. It’s a beautiful place…
The air is fine. Not perfect, but it’s fine.
Stop listening to the media.