Nobody warns you that the first month is mostly paperwork. None of it is difficult, but it runs to deadlines, and one of them carries a fine.
In the first few days
- Airport pickup and the journey to campus. Arrange this before you fly. Arriving at a Chinese airport at night without a SIM card is not the moment to start improvising.
- Registration at the university. You hand over your passport, your admission letter, your JW202 and your original certificates. Keep photocopies of everything.
- Registering your address. Anyone staying in China has to be registered with the local police station. If you live in a university dormitory, the university usually does this for you — confirm that it has been done rather than assuming.
The medical examination
Even if you had a physical examination at home, you will almost certainly be sent for another at the local health and quarantine bureau. The examination at home is for the application; this one is for the residence permit. Expect blood tests, an ECG, an ultrasound and a chest X-ray, usually in one morning.
Go early, go hungry — some of the tests need you to have fasted — and take your passport and the photographs everyone tells you to bring.
The residence permit — the deadline that matters
Your student visa lets you enter China. It does not let you stay. Within 30 days of arrival you have to convert it into a residence permit at the exit–entry administration bureau. The university guides the group through it, but the deadline is yours, and overstaying carries a daily fine and worse.
You will need the medical report, your registration form, photographs and the university's letter. Your passport is held for a week or two while it is processed.
Money and a phone
| What | Notes |
|---|---|
| Bank account | Take your passport, residence permit or visa, and the university's letter. Open it once your residence permit is under way. |
| Phone number | A local SIM needs your passport. Get one at the airport or in the first week. |
| Payment apps | Almost nothing is paid in cash. The apps need a Chinese bank card and a local number, which is why the two above come first. |
What actually surprises people
- The food. Campus canteens are cheap and open late. Halal canteens exist at many universities — ask us about the specific one before you go rather than after.
- The weather. Dandong and Changchun are not Guangzhou. Check what winter is like in your city and pack for it.
- The language. You can live on campus with very little Chinese. You cannot open a bank account, see a doctor or argue with a landlord comfortably without some. This is what the HSK guide is about.
We do not disappear once you land
Our office is in Wuhan and our people are in China. If a form makes no sense, or a queue sends you somewhere else, message us. That is the part of this service that matters most and it is the part you cannot judge until you need it.
Still not sure how this applies to you?
Every university sets its own rules and they change between intakes. Send us your situation and we will give you the specific answer, not the general one.