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Explore Cities: Student City Guides for China

Each city guide answers one question: what is special about living here? You will find neighbourhoods, local food, attractions, student areas, seasons and weekend trips — never another copy of the payment or SIM setup guides.

📘 Part of our complete guide to student exchange in China

Each guide answers one question: what is special about living here? Neighbourhoods, food, attractions, student areas and weekend trips — never another copy of the setup guides.

Already know your university?

Each city guide has a “Study in” section, and every university has its own exchange guide — campuses, dorms, courses and arrival routes.

Find your university
Zhejiang University
Fudan
Tsinghua

Start with Hangzhou

Boats on West Lake at sunset with hills behind

A Student Guide to West Lake

Routes, viewpoints and boats

Main hall of Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou

Things to Do on a Budget

Free & cheap, with costs

Braised Dongpo Pork, a Hangzhou signature dish of slow-cooked pork belly in soy sauce and rice wine

What to Eat in Hangzhou

Dishes, Chinese names, prices

Weekend Trips

Water towns, mountains, cities

How the city guides work (tap to expand)
  • Same layout, different content: snapshot, attractions, food, neighbourhoods, culture, student life, seasons, weekend trips and itineraries.
  • Actionable details: Chinese names, student prices, nearest metro and time needed.
  • No repeated setup: payments, SIM cards, apps and trains live in the Living in China and Travel guides.

New to China?

Start with the essentials: Before You Go · Alipay & WeChat Pay · SIM & internet · High-speed rail

Studying in another city? Tell us which one.

Last updated: September 2026. Prices, opening hours and rules in China change often — treat costs as estimates and confirm anything important with the official source before you go.

Photos: Wanderingchina / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) · Jakub Hałun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · David Zhang from Canada / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Pvt pauline / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · SQFP / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · Yinweichen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Tyg728 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo by AMANDA LIM on Pexels.com