We’ve lived internationally and raised our kids at international schools. Been to both Shanghai and Hong Kong pre covid era. I told my kids they could study abroad anywhere except China and Hong Kong.

Just back from a week in Hong Kong. No extra questioning of any kind at entry on American passport. We told anyone who asked at restaurants or in town that we are from Sydney. My husband actually is, so it’s a fair reply. Everyone was lovely. But the fact that we felt safer answering as we did is worth noting.

And the website blockers are real. Guess which site I could not access for the duration of the entire trip? DCUM. 😎

Another American in HK (lived in Asia for decades).

- I would recommend your undergrad, provided they exercise good judgement generally (not impulsive) study in Shanghai;
- I would expect some friction at immigration (common for Americans these days given geopolitical, but nothing too crazy more like 10 minutes of questions);
- There are only couple of hundred USA students in China now (this is very sad and bad for the for future relations);
- China & USA have to find a way to coexist;
- This experience will be a valuable life experience & will differentiate;
- The risks: some kind of legal limbo if your kid is posting things political or commits a crime; some kind of encampment if there is WW3 (I view these as very low probability).

Shanghai is an amazing city (Beijing & Taipei also great options for language & Taipei would entail less 'friction').

I also share the sentiments about USA. My half-Asian is a freshman in a USA uni right now and has had one friend deported (not for political reasons) with little due process & his school had an active shooter lockdown (hoax). Off campus he has witnessed serious crime. Shanghai would be much safer day to day on the street & even politically it seems at the moment (don't hear of any foreign students getting deported from China, we hear about it & have first had knowledge of it in USA).

Is the child half Chinese? Any way China can claim they are Chinese ciitizens?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why or why not? Anyone with any direct experience?

This is a repost from the political board. I should have posted in here initially.

My dc is American but is half Asian (looks more Asian than white if that makes a difference) speaks some mandarin and his university has several programs in China, including at a top school in Shanghai that dc is very interested in attending. But not sure it’s safe. Taiwan might be a better option but he’s not as interested in the partner program there. Dc is not into politics, and has never voted although he did register Dem last year.

I was interested to see the Canadian travel advisory for the US. Made the US sound terribly unsafe!

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states

We are Brazilian currently living in São Paulo and my son was accepted to Brown and NYU and also a couple of European schools. Given the recent US Gov view on foreign students, we have the same issues that you Americans do when worrying about your kids going abroad.

We adivsed him to forgo those offers and accept one of the UK/EU offers. He is now deciding between LSE, St Andrews and Bocconi.

That’s interesting to hear. As an American who knows kids at both those schools, and I attended one of them, my instinct is to say you’re just being paranoid. These schools are both safe. But I can also see how you’d feel that way, and that travel advisory certainly paints a dim view of the US!

I get it. But yes, we are paranoid. My cousin was denied entry last week and put on flight back to Brazil. Mind you, this is a Brazilian MD with a PhD from Stanford who was invited to present at a conference in the US and yet, someone at CBP didnt like him and denied him entry. He has presented at conferences in the US 5 times a year for the last 20 years….never had an issue….until now. So yes, we are little paranoid.

Interesting. Are you American? European? That article was from 2024 and said covid was a reason for a big drop- makes sense- and that both countries wanted to encourage more students. Not sure if you meant it to be encouraging.

Dc is interested in a specific program through his school in HK, but Shanghai is preferable to HK bc it’s more Chinese. .. for some people, going to HK is not really going to China. He understands many people speak Cantonese in HK not mandarin (thanks for the snark though!). Although isn’t mandarin much more common in HK now, especially among younger people? As far as written form, dc first learned Taiwanese mandarin (8 years of it) eg, traditional- so hopefully he’s retained some. But again, I think Shanghai would be the preference.

Do you like Shanghai?

Anonymous wrote:Why or why not? Anyone with any direct experience?

This is a repost from the political board. I should have posted in here initially.

My dc is American but is half Asian (looks more Asian than white if that makes a difference) speaks some mandarin and his university has several programs in China, including at a top school in Shanghai that dc is very interested in attending. But not sure it’s safe. Taiwan might be a better option but he’s not as interested in the partner program there. Dc is not into politics, and has never voted although he did register Dem last year.

I was interested to see the Canadian travel advisory for the US. Made the US sound terribly unsafe!

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states

I live in Hong Kong.

I will keep this brief and somewhat circumspect for obvious reasons.

This is no longer the Hong Kong so many Americans remember. Ask anyone you talk to when they last lived here.

Also travelling to Hong Kong to study Mandarin would be like travelling to Italy to learn French. Hong Kongers speak Cantonese and use traditional characters, not simplified.

One final note, there are far far fewer Americans studying in the mainland now.

“ These days[April 2024], only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of close to 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at U.S. schools.”

https://apnews.com/article/china-american-students-universities-f5f6e53cd5d3bc686590f2f961165281

It depends on their goals. If the goal is language acquisition of mandarin, I would choose a different city. The dialects in HK and Shanghai are very different. If they want a more cosmopolitan city, then hk and Shanghai make sense.

At this point in time no.

Trump administration is a loose cannon at best the moron is going to crash it all.

China will not be safe for Americans.

Nor will many countries. America won't be either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Canadian Travel Advisory for Canadians entering the USA is thorough & well done. Excellent advice with good resource information.

Whether or not I would let a college student study abroad in Shanghai or Hong Kong next year would depend upon the then current political climate and would also depend upon the school and housing involved.

Yes, it is. It does make the US sound like a bit of a hell hole though, doesn’t it?

No, not to me. Everything sounds reasonable. Important to understand that pot is illegal under federal law in the US. Nothing in the travel advisory would deter me from traveling from Canada to the US if I were a citizen of Canada.

Advice would have been no different if Biden was president.

We have people who pick pocket in the US. Homes get broken into sometimes. Don’t hike alone. Get travel insurance.


Nothing earth shattering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why or why not? Anyone with any direct experience?

This is a repost from the political board. I should have posted in here initially.

My dc is American but is half Asian (looks more Asian than white if that makes a difference) speaks some mandarin and his university has several programs in China, including at a top school in Shanghai that dc is very interested in attending. But not sure it’s safe. Taiwan might be a better option but he’s not as interested in the partner program there. Dc is not into politics, and has never voted although he did register Dem last year.

I was interested to see the Canadian travel advisory for the US. Made the US sound terribly unsafe!

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states

We are Brazilian currently living in São Paulo and my son was accepted to Brown and NYU and also a couple of European schools. Given the recent US Gov view on foreign students, we have the same issues that you Americans do when worrying about your kids going abroad.

We adivsed him to forgo those offers and accept one of the UK/EU offers. He is now deciding between LSE, St Andrews and Bocconi.

That’s interesting to hear. As an American who knows kids at both those schools, and I attended one of them, my instinct is to say you’re just being paranoid. These schools are both safe. But I can also see how you’d feel that way, and that travel advisory certainly paints a dim view of the US!

Anonymous wrote:Why or why not? Anyone with any direct experience?

This is a repost from the political board. I should have posted in here initially.

My dc is American but is half Asian (looks more Asian than white if that makes a difference) speaks some mandarin and his university has several programs in China, including at a top school in Shanghai that dc is very interested in attending. But not sure it’s safe. Taiwan might be a better option but he’s not as interested in the partner program there. Dc is not into politics, and has never voted although he did register Dem last year.

I was interested to see the Canadian travel advisory for the US. Made the US sound terribly unsafe!

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states

We are Brazilian currently living in São Paulo and my son was accepted to Brown and NYU and also a couple of European schools. Given the recent US Gov view on foreign students, we have the same issues that you Americans do when worrying about your kids going abroad.

We adivsed him to forgo those offers and accept one of the UK/EU offers. He is now deciding between LSE, St Andrews and Bocconi.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd allow it. In mainland China, Shanghai is the easiest place for foreigners. There's always a strong community of expats and students. And Hong Kong is even easier. China is not going to hold American students hostage, but I'd be mindful of the news and be prepared to leave at short notice should things change. Whatever study program this is exists with the cooperation of the Chinese government. I think common sense will be fine. China is endlessly interesting. I'd take the opportunity. China always takes the long view. Trump is just a passing distraction.

This makes sense to me, although I’d caution dc re no drugs, no political chatter etc.

Also I believe most people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, no? So Shanghai might be a better fit language wise.

Cantonese in HK. The Wu dialect in Shanghai. One of the exciting things about spending time in China is discovering that no can understand each other.

Most young people in Shanghai speak mandarin, I believe, not Shainghainese. I’d think a student would be fine if they knew mandarin

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Canadian Travel Advisory for Canadians entering the USA is thorough & well done. Excellent advice with good resource information.

Whether or not I would let a college student study abroad in Shanghai or Hong Kong next year would depend upon the then current political climate and would also depend upon the school and housing involved.

Yes, it is. It does make the US sound like a bit of a hell hole though, doesn’t it?

No, not to me. Everything sounds reasonable. Important to understand that pot is illegal under federal law in the US. Nothing in the travel advisory would deter me from traveling from Canada to the US if I were a citizen of Canada.

Really? Obvious most Canadians know the US fairly well, but if you didn’t and read that with no personal context, I can’t see how you’d want to visit.

Crime
Mass shootings and frequent gun violence
Gang activity
Terrorism threats

-getting locked up for weeks on end with no lawyer or phone calls
-getting deported to some random country you’ve never been to

Yeah, no one wants to come to the USA right now lol.

You forgot the drug overdoses and homeless problems too. Asia is unsafe but the US is great! Go ‘Merika!

I'd avoid the PRC, which is actively hostile to the U.S. and, by extension, to its citizens. The current trade dispute is simply an expansion of already poor relations and it's reasonable to anticipate potential issues for U.S. citizens in the PRC if matters should deteriorate further, whether over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea, or other well-known friction points. It's not too unlike asking if your child should study in Russia, frankly.