Q) I don’t speak any Chinese, am I going to be alright? A) While having a basic understanding of Chinese is helpful in your daily life, it is not required to survive. SGE will assist you with everything you might want/need, e.g., obtaining an internet connection in your apartment, setting up a bank account, and so forth. Furthermore, the school provides an opportunity for you to learn some basic Chinese or advance your level if you have already studied it before. Q) What should I expect to pay regarding living expenses? A) Renting an apartment is relatively expensive, while food, even having it delivered or going to a restaurant, is relatively cheap.Typical rent prices for a high-quality studio near Beihang University (less than 2 km) is around 5.000 yuan a month. A meal at the university costs less than 20 yuan.The cost of a meal outside of the university varies wildly as Beijing has both many lower- and upper-class restaurants. Q) How much paperwork is involved in obtaining a work permit? A) You will need to legalise your degree and a non-criminal statement. Usually, an agency can take care of this procedure, for a fee. Q) I have heard the air quality is quite poor in Beijing, is this true? A) It varies from day to day – current measurements may be found on http://aqicn.org/city/beijing/. To facilitate a healthy working environment, SGE provides high-quality air filters to all their staff. Q) I have a Gmail account and all my friends are on Facebook, will I be able to access these in China? A) In general, no. However, at the time of writing, when using the Beihang University internet, you will be able to access to YouTube, Google (but not Google Scholar), and Facebook.
