Kinesisk Immersjon

Fushu Italia

Chengde city is small but pretty and for anyone who likes hiking or long walks it’s perfect as it is surrounded by hills and mountains. Firstly for anyone thinking about going I would highly suggest asking yourself if you would be happy having quite a simple daily routine – there usually aren’t more than a handful of LTL students in Chengde at any one time, and interaction between them is not that frequent so Chinese is spoken the whole time there. If you aren’t comfortable with this, speak to LTL.

There aren’t that many things to do in the city itself, so I found that most students sign up to the gym or go to the park when it’s warm after class, and then just review. There are lots of places to visit outside the city though, such as beautiful temples and mountains. When looking for a homestay, I would suggest being as specific as possible and not be afraid to say what you want. Most people in Chengde ask to stay near the centre as that is where the big park is as well as most of the malls and places to eat.

Practically no one speaks English, so it is a great place to go if you are serious about practising your speaking every day, but can sometimes leave you with a headache at the end of the day, especially since the classes all being one-on-one can be intense, so I would suggest thinking carefully about how many hours a day you want to sign up for (I did 6hrs a day for 6 weeks and was quite tired). On the other hand, my experience was that teachers were all happy to be as helpful as possible, and you might even end up keeping in touch with them!

Zander Storbritannia

Hi, my name is Zander and I came to China and Chengde after finishing my Master’s degree at university. In total I was in China for 10 months, which included 7 months in Beijing and 6 weeks in Chengde (both at LTL).

I decided to come to Chengde because I was preparing to take the HSK 6, and wanted to be in a full immersive environment for this. While I enjoyed Beijing, I had lots of English-speaking friends and knew how easy it was to be distracted there. Chengde appealed to me because it is relatively isolated and pretty unknown to foreigners.

I stayed in a homestay which was located directly opposite the main train station in the main area of town. My family was a couple, their two young kids, and the mother’s mother. They were lovely, always very kind and I liked the eldest kid so much we would play games together pretty much everyday. Each evening the grandma would invite me out dancing but I was usually studying so didn’t go too often. The food was excellent (best I’ve had in china, honestly) and there was always too much. 

Although I was mainly preparing for my exams I can see how easy it would be to immerse yourself into the culture of Chengde. Foreigners are so rare that everyone is very excited and happy to chat with you. I attended my teacher’s friends wedding which was a real experience and she managed to integrate me quite well into her friendship group.

If you are looking for the ‘real China’ which feels quite distant when visiting the megacities of Beijing or Shanghai, Chengde is likely to be the place for you. It’s really almost like going back in time.

I passed my HSK 6 which I was very pleased with, and would attribute lots of this to the focus and direction that the learning-environment of Chengde provided. If you are willing to take the plunge, I couldn’t recommend it more.

Mark Estland

I have been studying at LTL school for 5 months and still have some time left at the time of writing. I started studying in Beijing for 4 months. That really helped to correct my grammar and speaking. LTL provides small and flexible classes that helps to interact with the teachers and classmates more than in any other universities that provide Chinese courses.

I enjoyed intensive lessons of up to six hours which included group class and then individual class after to help further enhance my Chinese language skills. It was tiring but very much worth it.

In Beijing there are many things to do in terms of visiting different museums, sightseeing, practicing Chinese, going to the gym or simply enjoying Chinese and western food. I had a l0t of fun with my fellow students. Moreover, I managed to meet lots of foreign and Chinese friends that made my Chinese learning even more exciting.

After Beijing I decided to go to Chengde to try new experience. Chengde is a small city with not so many western restaurants, bars, clubs or foreigners. This is perfect if you want to isolate yourself from all possible distractions and just focus on your Chinese learning. The speed of learning is much quicker in Chengde than in Beijing,

My Chinese host family has helped me a lot to speak with the correct tones and grammar. I would really recommend this school to learn Chinese with LTL Mandarin School.

Max Braun Tyskland

Hi, my name is Max, I am a high school graduate taking a gap year before starting university. I decided to go to China to discover a new culture and at the same time learn a new language. Since I wanted to achieve some major progress and be able to communicate effortlessly afterwards, I decided to stay at least half a year in China and chose the “Intensive Immersion Program” to make the most out of my stay.

Having set a clear goal, I divided my stay into 3 months each in Beijing and Chengde. I attended 4 hours of group class and 2 one-on-one sessions each day in Beijing and 6 hours of one-on-one’s in Chengde. I also lived in a homestay which added some more valuable time of Chinese surrounding. However, looking back it was definitely Chengde and the one-on-one classes which were responsible for my fast progress. To be honest, Beijing is a nice city but Chengde is where the real action takes place. At least when it comes to learning Chinese. Chengde is quite rural compared to Beijing and the amount of foreigners is at an absolute minimum which is why it creates such a perfect learning environment. The pace of life is slower, for example your homestay has time to take you out for dinner regularly, people approach you more openly and if you want to have social interactions it will most likely only be possible with Chinese.

Of course there is life beyond the classroom: Beijing is a huge and interesting city, definitely take your time to tour through all the sight-seeing places, they are worth it. Beijing impressively shows how China is picturing it’s future and it is fascinating to experience that. On the contrary is Chengde very small in comparison. I found it harder to get to know Chinese people in Beijing. This isn’t just because of the city’s huge size, there are more people, but also more foreigners. Chengde is the place to go if you want to meet the «real China» beyond the internationalized version in Beijing.

On the flipside, you need to be creative in Winter in Chengde, it’s cold and you must brave the weather. However, if you are up for football in minus temperatures you will keep yourself busy! Alongside the studying during the week, you’ll have good fun in Chengde.

In general, I loved my time in China and I can only recommend to anyone to visit this country of the future. And yes, with some commitment and time you are definitely able to master the Chinese language.

Nedd England

I came to LTL a complete beginner in Mandarin. I spent six weeks in Beijing and six weeks in Chengde. The time in Beijing was great. My homestay was perfectly located in relation to where lessons took place and a ten minute walk from one of the many beautiful parks around Beijing where I spent much time playing ping pong with locals. My class included three other people which I think was appropriate since we all were beginner level. Beijing has endless things to do in your free time and on weekends to explore.

Chengde is a considerably small city in comparison to Beijing. There are incredibly few foreigners which from the perspective of immersing yourself in Chinese culture is good but also be prepared to go out and try meet other people or else you can quite easily feel isolated. I would definitely recommend getting a year-round pass to the summer mountain resort (180 RMB) which is easily the main attraction of the city. I have spent almost every day there at some point and it is one of the more pleasant places to study or spend time generally.