Culture Shock! China - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, 2nd Edition

Settling In 99

Students of an international school doing morning exercise in the courtyard.

addition, there are high caliber locally-founded schools that
follow international curriculum like the Western Academy of
Beijing or Yew Cheng Shanghai International School.
Most international schools are newly built and employ
teachers and administrators on expatriate packages. This cost
gets passed on through tuition, which ranges from several
thousand US dollars for part-time preschoolers to as high as
US$ 18,000 per year for older children. On top of this are
bus fees, books, uniforms, food and fees for extracurricular
activities. This puts the cost of a year of school in China about
equivalent to the cost of a private international university.

Documents Needed to Enrol in Overseas Schools

„ Passport

„ Copy of birth certificate

„ Transcripts from prior schools

„ Health certificate / vaccination records

Many international schools cater to parents who are on full
expatriate packages which include schooling. For those that
are not, there are Chinese schools that offer an international
curriculum that may be a reasonably priced alternative.
Some parents have opted for these schools, choosing to