City guides · · 2 min read
Chengdu for international students: pandas, low costs and two huge universities
Consistently ranked China's most liveable large city, with Sichuan University, UESTC and the best food in the country.
Quick answer
The universities
Sichuan University is one of the largest universities in China with around 65,000 students, and it has Asia's best dental school (the West China School of Stomatology), a top-ranked clinical medicine faculty and a leading polymer materials programme. West China Hospital is one of the largest single-site hospitals in the world.
The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China is the country's dedicated electronics and ICT university, ranked first or second nationally in electronic science and technology. Its alumni include Ding Lei, founder of NetEase, and its recruitment pipeline to Huawei and ZTE is one of the strongest in China.
Costs
CNY 2,500–3,400 per month in a university dormitory, CNY 1,400–2,600 for a shared off-campus room. Food is cheap and exceptional — a bowl of dan dan noodles costs CNY 8–12 and a full hotpot meal with friends CNY 60–90 per person.
Chengdu is roughly 40% cheaper than Shanghai for an equivalent student lifestyle.
Culture and daily life
Tea houses, Sichuan opera, the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, Mount Qingcheng and the Leshan Buddha are all within reach. The city has a large and visible LGBTQ+ community relative to the rest of China and a famously tolerant social culture.
The climate is mild and humid year-round, with little snow and famously little sunshine. Summers reach 32–36 °C; winters hover at 5–12 °C.
Logistics
Chengdu Tianfu and Shuangliu airports give direct connections to Europe, North America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, which makes it one of the most convenient inland Chinese cities for international travel. High-speed rail reaches Xi'an in 4.5 hours and Chongqing in 1.5.