Before I came to China to study, I had the same question as you. To find out popular cities in China, I inquired a lot of information. Now I am gonna share what I have compiled with you and hope it helps.
1. Popular Provinces/Universities
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, in 2018, there were 492,185 international students from 196 countries and regions studying in 1004 colleges and universities in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and cities) of China. Here are the top 10 China Provinces with Most International Students.
Generally speaking, the provincial capital city of a province is most popular in the province. Therefore, the provincial capitals I listed in the table are very representative and popular cities. However, data on this aspect alone is not enough, so I looked for a list of Chinese universities with most international students.
These data come from Airuishen Alumni Network, which is a website dedicated to publishing Chinese university rankings. This brand was founded in November 2001 and has become the most influential and credible university ranking brand in China. So far, we know for sure, Beijing and Shanghai are deservedly the hottest cities for studying.
2. China Cities with the Most Universities
As you know, studying in China is an increasingly hot trend. In addition to those highly competitive cities, we can also look for some cities with more opportunities. However, there are several cities in China where there are more universities than in Shanghai. According to the list of national universities published by the Ministry of education on June 15, 2019, Beijing has the largest number of universities in China, with a total of 93 universities, Wuhan has the second largest number, with a total of 83 universities, and Guangzhou has the third-largest number, with a total of 82 Universities. The following is the specific quantity ranking:
3. Other Rankings about Chinese Cities
In addition to information about Chinese universities, we can also refer to some other dimensions of data. For example, the ranking of Chinese cities with the largest foreign population and ranking of China's top ten livable cities.
According to the Sixth China Census in 2010, the top three cities with the most foreigners are Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. What changes have occurred in the data after ten years? According to the bulletin of the Seventh China Census in 2020, the top ten provinces for foreigners and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are Guangdong, Yunnan, Shanghai, Fujian, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Shandong, and Liaoning. What’s more, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou were the top five most attractive Chinese cities for foreign talent in 2019, with Shanghai topping the list for the eighth consecutive year.
The top ten livable cities in China in 2020 are Zhuhai, Jinhua, Jiujiang, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hechi, Yichun, Macao, and Xinyang. The evaluation criteria include ecological environment, health index, urban safety index, life convenience index, life comfort index, economic affluence, social civilization index, urban reputation, and other indicators. If you also value a comfortable and beautiful life during studying in China, then this ranking will help you. It doesn't matter if the university that accepted you is not the popular city for studying, because in China, travel between cities is convenient and fast.
4. How to Find Suitable University in Popular City?
In addition to looking up data from official institutions, I also consulted companies engaged in studying in China. CUCAS, which helps thousands of international students apply for Chinese universities successfully every year, told me that in 2019, the cities in which they helped students apply for the most were Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Dalian. On their website, you can search for universities according to your favorite city as well.
5. Conclusion
Taking all of the above information together, my conclusion about the most popular cities for studying in China is Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Wuhan, Tianjin, and Nanjing. I hope my investigation is helpful to you and I also hope that you will eventually be able to study in your favorite city.
Best Wishes!