DalianDalian.com

Or as straight as they can be at the moment. Seemingly as a precaution for the Olympics there is a toughening and tightening of visas over the summer period, which may be relaxed from October.

• No more multi-entry F visas.
• Tighter regulations on applying for single-entry F and tourist visas. A hotel must be specified, among other things. See text in red on the link.
• A very loosely worded article stating all foreign students must leave. Yet according to chinese-forums no notice has been received by any students of Chinese, in Beijing or outside. In addition, it's likely that the original article, referencing a spokesman from Beida, was referring to Beida dormitories being used by Olympic volunteers as accomodation.

The situation seems quite fluid, any more updates will be posted here. In the meantime, no public notice has been given to any embassies let alone individuals.

Are you learning Chinese? Do you find Mandarin in Dalian has an accent?  read more »

A lot of people come here planning to study Chinese while teaching English, but that can be a tough balancing act. Some people use private tutors. Others, like me, enroll in regular classes a few hours a week. I've met a few people who study full time at universities and work their teaching schedule around that. Two of the biggest issues are getting pronunciation right and finding people to practice with. John Pasden of Sinosplice recently wrote about his own learning process. Here's part of that post:  read more »