Both of my nephews spent a semester in China (one in Beijing and another in Shanghai). They loved the experience. By the time younger one got there (last year), uber was huge. For few USD he could get around very easily. Some how we got FB postings from them. I saw pictures of my nephew sand surfing at the Gobi Desert. They spoke/text my brother/sister-in-law regularly when they were there.
The biggest perk we got was both of them brought back a lot of very “authentic” fake designer bags. They weren’t cheap, but were 1/10 of the real bag.
I don’t think anyone who goes China complains about the food.
Health insurance: check with your son’s college and the study abroad program; insurance is probably required and covered within the cost of the program. Medical condition: if your son takes medication(s), he should talk to his health care provider now about getting sufficient amounts before he leaves so he can take them all with him. I recommend also getting a letter from the health care provider that lists all the medications and states that they are required for his condition, whatever it might be.
I’ve found that study abroad programs are very good at delineating what to bring, do, etc. They don’t want any liability after all and they want happy students so colleges don’t drop the program.
Will he be staying with a host family or in dormitory housing?
Lots of experience here with having DD in China–different cities (including Shanghai), different lengths of time, different accommodations (homes, dorms, her own apartment), etc. She always felt safe and well fed
Just a few observations:
I second the recommendations re technology. The VPN is important; be sure you have the phone plans in order to avoid costly surprises; Skype/FaceTime/texting kept us feeling just as in touch as when D was away at school.
Agree, also, about taking meds with him. Shipping things can be tricky, and meds are a particular problem. Most of our care packages sailed through customs, but in one case, it took a full month to get a box of totally innocuous stuff out of customs purgatory.
I think you can rest easy about communist officials! As a Fulbright scholar, D was cautioned repeatedly by the US State Dept. not to inadvertently put her Chinese friends at risk through careless conversation or dodgy activities, but I seriously doubt that would apply to anything your son would be doing in a study abroad program.
The biggest problem D experienced was the truly horrible air pollution. There were times when D literally could not see the building across the street from her apartment because of the pollution. She struggled with asthma as a child, but she had not needed an inhaler in many years until her time in China. If your son doesn’t generally suffer with respiratory problems, he should be fine for a spring semester in Shanghai. But if he does have asthma or a similar condition, you might want to check out the historical air quality indicator for the months he will be there (Google AQI Shanghai) and talk to his doc about that.
Your son will undoubtedly have a fabulous (and safe) experience, and the time abroad will fly by for all of you! While China was not at the top of our travel bucket list, we loved visiting DD there and would recommend it to anyone.
@lonestarmom pointed out about air quality is huge. My D had her asthma under control before China and had to restart using her inhaler while she was there. i think in Shanghai he will have it pretty easy. Many English speakers and visitors making it much easier to find your way around. My D was in another large city where most signage was only in Mandarin. It was an adjustment to say the least.
We communicated via Skype. She did not have a VPN but her roommate did. She had her IPhone turned off. The first thing her employer did was take them to buy a “China” phone which was prepay. She used that for her communication in China with her friends and co workers. Her China purchased phone broke and she put the SIM card in a old Samsung unlocked phone she had brought from home. So if you have an old unlocked phone he might bring it.
The weirdest experience she had was that on there (she went with 3 others from her University) first full day they were shuffled off with no explanation in English to have medical exams. She said it was very uncomfortable and they were not prepared for this nor were they given an explanation.
Her biggest tip is watch out for the scooters and motor bikes. They will drive on the sidewalk.
If you can visit. Like Lonestarmom it was not on our travel bucket list but we enjoyed our visit there. We would have never gone if she hadn’t been working there. It was cool to see how well she navigated her city and to travel with her.
My D also went for a short study abroad in China, and had no problems at all with government officials, inedible food, personal safety, or air quality. It was a wondrous experience for her, and she says the pictures she took don’t begin to do justice to the beauty of China.
A few off-beat tips: Your son should be aware that Americans are still a bit of a novelty and of course stand out, so he shouldn’t be surprised if he’s approached by people who want to have their picture taken with him. My D considered this to be her contribution to diplomatic relations. Everywhere they went, everyone was very helpful and welcoming.
Ask him to take pictures of signs which are imperfectly translated to English. These will increase in both number and hilarity the further he gets from big cities.
Email can be the lifeline. Because D wasn’t there that long and we weren’t sure about the internet situation, we didn’t make plans to Skype. She did send emails every few days, and I quickly learned that her 10 pm end-of-day email came about 6 am my time. So I’d have my morning coffee in front of the computer, and sometimes caught her emails as they came in. I’d quickly reply back an “I love you” before even reading, hoping she’d get it before she logged off. It made me feel connected to her.
No mother can help but feel nervous when her child is leaving for the other side of the world; I certainly did. But the more I learned about the program, the better I felt. And I remember telling myself that the organizers knew what they were doing (they did), that they’d done it many times before (they had), and that they would instruct my kid on how to behave and how to be safe (they did) and she would listen and obey (she did).
Im thinking my study abroad to china in 1984 prob freaked my mom out a heck of alot more - no phone or internet - had to order a long distance call at the telecommunications office…wrote letters. Shanghai at that time was the modern city I went to for western goodies.
The article is about an AA med student from Hopkins Nanjig-China. Curiously he stated: “There was also culture shock of getting different stares and being treated differently,” he says. “So I had people just randomly come up and touch my hair.”
Wood says that never before in his life has he been so closely examined or forced to explain himself to others. This experience, he says, has given him a stronger awareness of his identity.
“Having people say, ‘I’ve never met someone like you before, never met a black American before,’ that’s never happened,” he says. “From that experience until today, I would say I know that I’m a lot more confident in myself. I know who I am.” Seems so rude but I told my son, who has curly hair to be ready to bow down so they can have a feel
My daughters found it very enlightening to be “different” – in the minority – during their study abroad programs. White girls, in Ghana and in Vietnam.
@amandakayak - I could bet you on my study abroad to China, I was there 1981. We were the first non-official American visitors to China. Our professor was very known in China and that was how he managed to get us in. At that time, China didn’t have many Western hotels. They put us up at their best hotels, but some of them were pretty spooky (lights flickering and all). We were followed every where by the Chinese, some friendly and some not so friendly. Now looking back, I am surprised that our parents weren’t more worried. We didn’t have phones, internet, emails. I didn’t talk to my parents until I came back.
Son took trip to China in HS. I worried a fair amount but he’s fairly adventurous and very open to new experiences.
The program was fairly structured. He found his own adventures:)
He had a great time and learned a lot.
With some good guidelines as to etiquette, customs. it’ll be great.
The more you study beforehand the more comfortable you may be. and kid will stay out of trouble.
As someone mentioned above, Americans can be a novelty. At 6 ft. my son found himself the center of quite a few selfie pix with curious natives. He’s a personality that’s open to that and enjoyed it.
Bottom line: overall most people at their core are the same. They want to connect and are decent at heart.
Fortunately that’s the only type my son ran into on any of his out of country travels.
@SalveMater My D quite enjoyed it. She said they were always approached in an exceedingly polite and friendly way, and thanked effusively after, and that it was fun for all concerned. The taller members of her group got the most attention.
I have had Chinese ask to pose with me for pictures. I am an average looking middle aged (sigh) woman - not strikingly blonde, tall or distinctive in any way. (but not homely either!) I declined to pose which was accepted with grace by the young woman making the request. It can be disconcerting at first, I thought it must be a scam of some sort, but was assured by my son that this is not unusual. Sometimes the picture taker will show the picture to others and claim you as a “friend”.
It’s not just China but a lot of Asia, India as well. People in India kept giving my daughter, a stranger to them, their baby to hold so they could take a photo. She has light brown hair, brown eyes. Lots of staring both in India and Asia. Comments on her eyes, nose. The constant attention and staring definitely got old after awhile.
I love visiting Shanghai, and I’ll bet your kid will, too! I love dumplings, and you can get all kinds there. And the fruit & veggies are awesome. If you really want some western food, you can find it, but it’ll be more expensive, so more of a “once in a while” thing. The sense of history and tradition is mind-blowing, and folks are really nice.
You do have to be a bit more aware of your surroundings – they’re not as safety-paranoid as we are in the states, so uneven pavement, lack of safety railings, etc. are pretty common. I’m a klutz, tho, and haven’t had issues, but it’s good to be on the lookout!
Our son spent a year in Jordan, but highly recommend Skype. We had an arrangement that we would talk on Sundays and he’d email us a day or two in advance about the best time to call or whether he’d have a field trip or other activity that would make the call impossible that week.
I think most kids don’t want to come off as picky and they learn to try most things. They’ll soon figure out the list of stuff that they really can’t bear to eat and choke down the rest - or learn to like it. My kid never did learn to like olives, but loved most other Jordanian food including some stuff that I wasn’t a big fan of.
I highly recommend thinking about a visit at the end of your child’s stay. It was really fun to see our kid negotiating a city where we couldn’t speak a word of the local language.
A surprising number of people asked for pictures with us in Jordan as well.
I’m another parent whose kid lived and worked in Beijing for several months and elsewhere in Asia for about a year. There were no problems except some unhappiness with the air quality. We communicated via facetime and work email since the normal gmail account wouldn’t work. No issues with safety. I’m sure this will be a great experience for your son and will go fine.
However, the experience could be different for different situations:
a. If you are seen as an exotic curiosity.
b. If you are or appear to be a member of a common minority group that is well accepted.
c. If you are or appear to be a member of a common minority group that is resented or disliked.
