We have compiled a list of 16 Chinese top-universities that accept foreign students and offer courses taught in English. We have selected these universities based on their reputation and our experiences in the past. These comprise:
　

General information about the cities

Beijing

 Also known as Peking.
population: 13.8 million

Beijing (“Northern Capital”) is a city municipality, with provincial status. Therefore it enjoys the privilege of being directly administered by the central government. It is the political, educational and cultural centre of China. Beijing is the capital city of the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the four Great Ancient Capitals of China.

Between 1928 and 1959 it was called Beiping (Northern Peace), when the capital of the Kuomintang government in the south was Nanjing (Nanking, “Southern capital”). During the Japanese occupation in the second Sino-Japanese war, Beiping was renamed Beijing. After the Japanese surrendered its name was changed back to Beiping. On the first of October 1949 Mao Zedong announced the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. Having decided a couple of days earlier that Beiping would be changed back to Beijing it was also made the capital.

It is sometimes referred to by another informal name, Yanjing, meaning the “Capital of Yan”, since it is located in the area where the state Yan once resided. The Jin dynasty who ruled the north called it Zhongdu, or “Central capital”. The next Mongol dynasty totally destroyed Zhongdu, and rebuilt it as Dadu, “Grand Capital”, a bit more to the north of the present centre of Beijing. Today there are still remnants of the wall that used to surround the capital.

City walls, temples, palaces and parks are the silent reminder of a long and vivid history. Combining old and new, Beijing has become one large construction site. Modern buildings are springing up at an astonishing rate. The city has been divided into a CBD (central business district), a shopping district, a “silicon valley”, a financial street and much more.
People in Beijing are slightly more open and direct in communication then elsewhere in China. The real Pekinese people are not afraid to speak what is on their mind and they are famously eager to talk and love conversation. A lack of proficiency in English might make some remarks sound a bit rude, but generally no harm is intended. In the city itself however, more than half the people originate from outside the city. Many have come to the city without family or relatives, hoping to find a job. This struggle-for-life mentality is reflected in daily life such as what seems like reckless driving and rowdiness on the metro. For visiting foreigners sometimes it’s just a matter of getting used to new habits and the Chinese way of doing things as well as the locals learning to cope with new more modern systems. Foreigners must learn to negotiate the Beijing roads with out being run over. Pekinese are dealing with the newly added wait-here-lines added to the platforms in the subway station and the habit of drinking beer and soda cold.

As mentioned before Beijing is the educational centre of the country. It has over 30 universities, three of which are listed in China’s top ten of the best universities in China. Seven of them have been included on this website.
　

Shanghai

Also known as “Pearl of the orient” or “Paris of the East”.
Population: 17 million (10 million in the metropolitan area)

Today Shanghai is a municipality directly under the central government and has had the status of a province since 1927. Previously it was part of Jiangsu province.

The population of the Shanghai is about 17 million people. The city is divided into two parts by the Huangpu River. It has become one of the major industrial bases in China.

Shanghai is also the most important port city of China. Ever since the Song it has become more and more developed. It is located at the mouth of the Yangzi, and its strategic position has caused it to change rapidly. The Shanghai port surpassed the port of Rotterdam in throughput in 1994 and has become the world’s number one. Still, this has not brought Rotterdam and Shanghai into adverse competition. Together they are working on a Euro-Asiatic cargo highway. Moreover, Rotterdam and Shanghai have been sister-cities since 1979.

Shanghai has been occupied by a variety of foreign powers. The British occupied Shanghai during the opium war. The Japanese have also occupied Shanghai, setting up factories that contributed greatly to the development of Shanghai. Distinct reminders of the various foreign influences remain in the city such as the rich architecture along the Bund.

From 1992 under Jiang Zemin, foreign investment has been encouraged by reducing the tax burden on Shanghai. Shanghai is the largest city in China and has been competing with Hong Kong to become the region’s economic centre. Since the handover from Hong Kong to mainland China it has grown rapidly.

The skyline of Shanghai is dominated by skyscrapers none of which are more unique to the city than the Pearl of the Orient TV tower. The gleaming new towers of Shanghai are in sharp contrast to the old European style buildings on the Bund. Close to the Bund there is Nanjing Lu, a vivid shopping street where lots of Western style malls and shops are located.

Shanghainese are open to outside influences, yet in their social life they might tend to keep a bit to themselves. Some say outsiders are not easily trusted, and some even say Shanghainese tend to feel a bit superior to people from outside Shanghai. True or not, Shanghai has had seen a large influx of people from outside the city, resulting in a mixed population. However, any sense of superiority does not really apply to foreigners. The local dialect of Shanghai is Wu (Shanghainese), but of course everybody speaks Mandarin, although sometimes with a bit of an accent

Nightlife in Shanghai is lively but a bit expensive. If you don’t mind the price of a beer too much there is a large variety of entertainment options, ranging from KTVs, bars and discos.

Today Shanghai has 42 universities, information about five of them are included on this website
　

Wuhan

Population: 8.81 million inhabitants

It is the capital of the province of Hubei with seven central districts, four new districts and two suburban districts. It was also the capital of the leftist KMT (Kuomintang) government during the early 1920s of the last century.

Wuhan, also called “city of rivers” is located along the Yangzi and has four bridges. Three cities more or less merged into one city, leaving modern Wuhan divided into three parts, separated by rivers, yet connected by bridges. Originally the three towns were Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, giving the name Wuhan, “Wu” from Wuchang, and the “han” from both Hankou and Hanyang. The Three Gorges dam is to prevent Wuhan from being subject to regular floods.
 
During the 17th century Wuhan port (actually merely Hankou port at that time) opened up to foreign powers. These foreigners, setting up factories laid the basis for Hankou’s transformation. This was completed under Governor Zhang Zhidong (at the end of 19th century) when Wuhan really boomed, becoming the largest rice collector and distributor in Southern China. Zhang also set up 11 modern enterprises. Moreover, several universities were established. Today, over 30 universities guarantee a well educated work force.

The four seasons are very distinct in Wuhan. It is also one of three “furnaces” of China, with very hot and dry summers, with average temperatures of 32 degrees centigrade. Winters are cold but not freezing, with average temperatures around zero degrees centigrade. But since the city is located down south central heating is not standard, so in some places it might be a bit chilly.

Entertainment facilities are a little dispersed around the city. The lively atmosphere does compensate for this. Some bars have live music and shows, and in the university area smaller and more relaxed bars can be found. Several hotels in the city also have bars.

There is also an NBSO (Netherlands Business Support Office) established in Wuhan.
　

Xiamen

Population 1.3 million
Also known as Amoy

In 1979 5 Special Economic Zones were appointed to stimulate economic development. Xiamen was one of them, strategically directly facing Taiwan. It was benefiting from special taxes, and the government also provided a good network of roads, electricity etc.

Special about Xiamen is that its development now goes hand in hand with environmental protection, making Xiamen one of the cleanest cities in China.

During the Ming Dynasty the city was used as a base against pirates. It was also the base of Koxinga, a Chinese-Japanese warlord who drove the Dutch out of Taiwan. He renamed the place Siming. After being a sub prefecture, county, and provincial city, it eventually gained the status of vice province class city, or municipality.

Xiamen is a port city, currently ranked into the top ten of port cities. It has been an international trade port for many centuries. It has been the largest port for exporting tea to Europe. Many words of export products are derived from the local dialect, Hokkien (a.k.a. Southern Min or Taiwanese), like “tea”, “ketchup” and “pekoe”.

Xiamen is very attractive place for foreign investors. It’s also famous for hosting a variety of exhibitions and conferences, for instance the China Fair for International Investment and Trade. The computer industry is currently growing at a 26% rate. It’s now more and more specializing in computer storage products.

Among the major foreign investors is also a Dutch company, Tankpak, an oil logistic firm.

Changchun

Population: 6.83 million in the metropolitan area and a population of 2.78 million in the city proper.

Changchun “Eternal Spring” is the capital of Jilin. It has also been the capital of Manchuko, a small state set up in Manchuria under Japanese rule, then called Xinjing “The New Capital”. It has been under Japanese rule and has also been occupied by the Soviet Red Army and finally by Kuomindang forces before being liberated by the Chinese Liberation Army. It was renamed Changchun afterwards by the Chinese government.

Changchun is a sub-provincial city. It emerged from a small Manchurian trading town to become a modern city.
It is situated between the south Manchurian railway and the east-China railway and this has helped the rapid growth and development. Although first focused on railway maintenance, Changchun has now become a large producer of cars. Volkswagen has a manufacturing plant located in Changchun.

There is not too much entertainment in Changchun but during the year there are a number of festivals. One is the port-wine festival in August/September and there is also a biannual film festival. Sports fans can go to Baicheng, about a four hour drive from the city, where a Mongolian festival is held with all kinds of traditional sports, such as wrestling, archery and horseback riding. If you are a fan of winter sports you can go to one of the ski-resorts in the vicinity.

Changchun has over 25 universities and colleges.