Leifeng Pagoda silhouetted against a golden sunset over West Lake, Hangzhou

Your Exchange in China Starts Here

Practical, first-hand guides for exchange students: visas and payments, your campus, your city and the trips beyond it.

Prepare for China
Find Your University

Start here

Where are you in your exchange journey?

Pick the stage you are at and jump straight to what matters now, or read the complete guide to student exchange in China from start to finish.

I’m preparing to go

Visa, apps, money and packing, sorted before you fly.

Get ready

I’ve chosen my university

Campus, dorms, courses and arrival steps for your school.

Find your guide

I’ve just arrived

SIM, payments, registration and your first meals.

Plan your first 48 hours

I want to explore

Cities, day trips and getting around by high-speed rail.

Explore cities

Before you fly

Prepare for China

The five things that trip up most exchange students, each with a step-by-step guide.

Visa & documents

X1/X2 visa, JW202 and what to carry.

Check documents

Payments

Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign card.

Set up payments

Internet & SIM

eSIM, local SIM and staying connected.

Get connected

Housing

Dorm or off-campus, costs and contracts.

Compare housing

Packing

What to bring, and what to buy here.

See the list

Follow the full step-by-step plan

12 university guides

Find your university

Already know where you are going? Search your university for campus, dorm, course and arrival details.

    Browse all 12 university guides

    City guides

    Discover your city

    Eight exchange cities, each with things to do, food, neighbourhoods and day trips.

    Where this guide began

    Hangzhou 杭州

    West Lake, tea hills and a relaxed, green pace, plus one of China’s strongest universities. The city I know best, with the most first-hand detail on this site.

    LakesTeaFood

    🎓 Zhejiang University

    Explore Hangzhou

    Compare all cities
    Zijingang Campus of Zhejiang University

    From an exchange student in China

    Advice from someone who has done it

    “The guide I wish I’d had before I left.”

    I did my exchange semester in Hangzhou. This site shares what actually worked for me: budgets, dorm life, cheap food, transport hacks and the mistakes you can skip. Every guide combines first-hand experience with checks against official, up-to-date sources.

    Where I would start:

    Read more about me and this guide

    Free tools

    Plan it with these tools

    Most used

    Budget calculator

    Estimate your monthly and semester costs in your own currency.

    Work out my budget

    Exchange checklist

    Every step before and after you arrive, in order.

    Open the checklist

    Packing checklist

    Tick off what to bring and skip what is cheaper here.

    Start packing

    First 48 hours

    A step-by-step plan for landing, SIM, payments and registration.

    See the plan

    Have a Question?

    Send your questions about visas, money, classes, or culture, and I’ll turn the most common ones into new guides.

    I read every message

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    Thank you for your response. ✨

    Photo by Saliha Büyükkaya Gülhan on Pexels.com

    Photos: Yinweichen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Windmemories / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · David Zhang from Canada / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Pixelflake / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Sparktour / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · xiquinhosilva / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · Zheng Zhou / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 钉钉 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Rincewind42 from China / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)