I'm due to arrive in Kunming before the end of the month and plan on staying on a student visa for at least the first 6 months or so. With that said, I have no idea which school would be best for taking Mandarin/Chinese classes. I have looked on here and checked out the pages for the school listed, but I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

I'm at a beginner level, with only a handful of phrases and words down. I'll also be living on Dianchi rd in the south, so I don't want to travel too far to get to class. I'd like to keep the cost as low as possible too, so I'm looking for regular/group classes as opposed to 1 on 1 or tutoring. Obviously the ability for a school to provide a visa is a must.

I realize the semester starts at the end of February, so I just want to start squaring things away now to make things smoother once I get there. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

Many of these schools are much of a muchness. As you are at DianChi, this can be a bit out of the way. Try to find one that is convenient to you for travel. Buses here can be OK, but hellish busy, and if you need to cross town, they can take a long time with changes.
Most of the private schools also do group classes that don't always follow the regular semester schedule. These are more flexible. One downside, or upside, with the university courses is that they go at a set pace to finish a course book within the semester. Teachers cannot speed up or slow down for students, the book is the main consideration. Some of the content can also be a bit irrelevant. Private schools on the other hand are also flexible on content covered, student needs and pace.

Some people have a really great time in a uni course, usually those who have been here a while or are good with languages. However, I struggled, fell behind, and was left behind, I really did not enjoy my beginner course at uni.

Just my 2c.

I enjoy uni courses for the laid back atmosphere, though if you are looking for intense courses a private school may be a better idea. I like the option of taking an exam at the end of semester and getting an official certificate that's offered at uni. I'm pretty sure private schools don't offer this.

When I came to Kunming, I took 3 months of one-on-one classes at the Keats School. I also chose their live-in situation. It's not the cheapest approach (though, relative to the U.S., its very cheap), but those first few months of personal classes, combined with the support of the staff and other foreign students really helped me to get my bearings. The rooms are OK...nothing luxurious, but private, secure, and comfy. The food is very good, though you'll get tired of all-Chinese after a while and want to venture out. (Lots of great, cheap food within steps of the school.) The instruction is excellent. They assign a teacher to you and you are given an individualized program. There is no hard-set semester schedule. Students come and go, as they please. You can sign up for 1 week, or 1 year...depending on your needs. They also have the non-residential classes that are 5 days a week and cost way less.

So Keats school is good? Any other recommendations? I have a feeling I'll go with a private school, although I'm not opposed to university too, it just seems a bit more expensive.

I guess I could mention that I'm also not going to be 100% beginner as my GF is Chinese and has been teaching me a bit, plus I've been dabbling with a Rosetta Stone course. I'm not worried about any certificate or anything, this is strictly for my own benefit to be able to get around a bit and communicate with her family since they don't speak English. If stuff in class is a bit above me I'm pretty sure I can just work harder and get help from my GF outside of class to catch up too, but the private schools sound a bit better in terms of pace.

Anyway, I've checked out a bunch that are in the GK listing, just trying to see if anyone has personal experiences with them. Thanks for the input though!

Oh yeah, and does anyone know anything about being able to work while on a student visa? I read you can sometimes get work at the school you're going to or get a permit to work at another location... anyone have experience with this or insight to share?

@jopasny - I failed to mention that the Keats non-residential classes are group classes, only. Lots of expats take them and I've seen at least two levels of classes being offered. These classes are dirt-cheap to take. I believe you can pay more for one-on-one sessions.

There is another language school called the Roberts School. I've known several people who go there, but many have said that its not as good as some of the others.

Then again, any Chinese that you learn in China is way better than Rosetta Stone, or foreign language courses in other countries. Immersion forces you to use the language and develop familiarity with it.

In my opinion, the biggest problem you'll have is the location of where you are planning to stay. Dianchi Lu is outside the 2nd Ring Road and you'll be at least 5-7 km from the parts of the city center where you find most of this type of educational service. This is at least a 1+ hour bus ride. (Just some advice: If you have any choice in the matter, consider changing your accommodations and move closer to the city center.) You should definitely spend some time on Google Maps and calculate some directions between points. GM also has the Kunming bus routes.

In any case, you will want to concentrate on "survival Chinese", first. That allows you to move around, buy things, and seek help if you get in trouble. Along the way, you'll learn all sorts of other useful stuff.

Good luck!

Apparently you can get permission to work on a study visa, but when asked the PSB here knew nothing about it...

Taken from lawandborder.com

''Under the new rules, a person with a residence certificate for study who wants to take a part-time job or internship off campus should obtain approval from the school, then apply to the PSB Exit-Entry Administration for a notation to the residence certificate showing the part-time job or the location and period of internship off campus. (State Council regs, art. 22). Notice that short-term students with X2 visas do not have such opportunities.''

Mei's Mandarin has a lot of satisfied students. Two minutes walk from WenLingJie. I work for Robert's School, the English language side of the school, so I'm not totally impartial, but I do know a lot of foreign students there and they seem very happy with the set-up, so worth a look.

I highly recommend Huayang Academy, which won the GoKunming yearly awards this year. It is great.

Thanks for all the responses, I think I'm going to look into Mei's, Robert's, Keats and Huayang. As for distance, I'm not too worried anymore. As much as I hate taking the bus, I love biking and 5-7 each way daily doesn't bother me. Also, our place on DianChi Lu is free, so there's no sense in paying rent if we don't have to.

One more thing (it seems there's always more follow up questions when it has to do with China...), I'm entering on a 30 day tourist visa, so I'm going to have to coordinate my visa quickly. Will I have to leave and re-enter the country to get an X1/X2 visa (and consequently temp residency), or can I just do that from within the country?