To Learn Mandarin: Beijing vs Shanghai

Beijing and Shanghai are the most popular cities in China, so foreigners who decide to learn Chinese in China will choose from these two cities, which is better for you to learn Mandarin in China, Beijing or Shanghai, so this page will provide you all round information about learning Chinese in Beijing and shanghai, you can make your decision wiser after reading this article.
 

Climate of Beijing and Shanghai:

Climate. Beijing is colder, but you don’t feel it too much because everyone bundles up like mad, and central heating is quite widespread. In Shanghai the buildings are built with the hot summers in mind, and there’s precious little insulation. That, combined with the people’s strong desire for “fresh air” in the middle of the winter makes Shanghai “the coldest place I’ve ever lived.” People. Both Beijingers and the Shanghainese feel a sort of superiority toward outsiders. Nevertheless, Beijingers are widely regarded as very friendly, and any sense of superiority is exhibited only subtly. The Shanghainese are not widely regarded as friendly or as subtle in their snobbery.
 

Language and Daily Life in Beijing and Shnanghai:

Language. Beijingers speak Chinese with as much “rrrr” as possible, as if they only “speak with the throat.” Despite the superfluous R’s, Beijingers’ Chinese is quite close to the national standard. The Shanghainese, on the other hand, speak a dialect that could easily be classified as a separate (but related) language. This affects their Mandarin, making it less standard. The Shanghainese, like most places in the south, have much less “rrrr” in their speech, relying instead on other standard variants (e.g. nali instead of nar, meaning “where”).
 

Western Conveniences. Shanghai’s got Beijing beat hands down. Sure, Beijing has most of the products Shanghai does, but in Shanghai they’re much more readily available. Some things that you can buy in Shanghai’s convenience stores you might have to go to a specialty store for in Beijing. In addition, Shanghai has a lot more late-night and 24-hour stores.
 

Entertainment. Beijing’s Sanlitun is a bit better than Shanghai’s bar streets. Beijing also has a lot more cheap entertainment options. Going out on the town in Shanghai often will deplete your funds fast.
 

You may hear this “Beijing feels so home-y and special. Shanghai is a soulless concrete capitalist jungle.” “Beijing” seems so cliche to me. “Oh, you want to learn Chinese? Then go to Beijing! The Mandarin is so standard there. Dashan studied there!” And the level of consumption of Beijing and shanghai are similar, so it’s time for you to decide which city do you like to learn mandarin in China.

To Learn Mandarin: Beijing vs Shanghai