Chinese Language + Culture Immersion in Yangshuo, China

First of, the landscape surrounding Yang Shuo is breathtakingly stunning. It would soak up any existing stress that you might have carried along the way.

The program in Omeida is conveniently sorted out for you so it takes away any hassle of planning. As the teacher/staff here are used to interacting with a wide array of nationalities and personalities, they are open minded and have a wicked sense of humor. They are neither overbearing nor reserved and would adjust their interaction to suit your learning needs.

Firstly, Yangshuo is a remarkable area, scenery-wise. I will never forget the Karst, hill formations I saw there. The Omeida staff were friendly and helpful. I particularly remember Cecily and Wency who helped make my visit a happy and enjoyable time. The food in the Omeida cafeteria is delicious. Especially the bowls of "la" to mix with one's rice. Also, the Omeida, paid-for supper at City-On-City was great, and fire juggling show afterwards. Xi Jie, or "West Street" is a lot of fun! I will remember my experiences at Omeida and in Yangshuo forever. Oh yes, I learned a lot of Chinese there as well.

It is an experience and place that will stay with you long after you leave. Who knows, maybe you will end up going back like so many do, for the learning, the friends, the teachers, the mountains, the rivers, the caves--the good times. The small class sizes, usually around 4, are taught by experienced teachers who can teach to the class as well as the individual. You will learn about the language, the people, the culture, and most of all, meet amazing people whom you would never have otherwise met by staying at home. And being there will make you a part of this exclusive, amazing family. Yes, like all things, Omeida is what you make of it. However, what makes Omeida special is that it has all the ingredients there for you to succeed and experience something that you will never forget. So if you're looking for schools in China but don't want to be in a big city environment, then I can say after having studied there for 5 months Omeida should be one of your top choices.

If you are looking for a place to learn Chinese (both in and out-of-classes), do biking and make some friends, Omeida can be the place for it!

Regarding myself, I came in Omeida for a few weeks in July and December. Both were enjoyable but different experiences - super, super hot in Summer, quite cold in Winter. Usually, the Chinese classes are small (3 to 5 students), which is great for practice. My teachers - Tommy and Yuri - were lovely & really professional teachers, able to handle students with slightly different levels. Apart from classes, you can have a Chinese language partner and/or a Chinese roommate (I was super lucky, but some people might prefer the private rooms).

And when you are not studying? Well, the landscapes are truly amazing - with hidden villages or waterfalls - perfect for biking, rock-climbing, hiking, running or simply scooter-riding. These activities will fill your weekends (or even weekdays), in addition to the activities organized by the school (e.g. pizza night, rice terraces, bamboo rafting). Speaking about the urban side, Yangshuo is not an enormous city, but you can find a decent amount of restaurants, bars and bubble tea shops.

Another word is that it is quite easy to meet people from all kinds in Omeida - University students, backpackers travelling across Asia, employees making a break, etc. Plus, the staff is really welcoming. So you won't feel alone!

I spent six weeks at Omeida learning Chinese last summer and it was a great experience! Wonderful landscapes, kind people, professional teachers and a good vibe. Back home I tried the Chinese online course offered by Omeida and I was surprised by the quality of the lessons, I learned even faster!
Everyday I had the opportunity to volunteer with some chinese students who were learning english and thanks to the language partner program I had the chance to have interesting conversations with chinese people and practice what I learned in class.
Every week the staff of the school organised some cultural activity or some outdoor activities around Yangshuo. It's worth saying that the landscape there is incredible, you will never find anything similar around the world.

I suggest it to everyone!

10/10 Location

The school is located just outside the "CBD" of Yangshuo by that i mean West St etc. I actually prefer it because food, massages, groceries are 60-80% cheaper than being in West St itself.

9.5/10 Course

The courses are great for beginners, i would say you absorb the content quite quickly and can start practicing it with locals in every day life. The 0.5 stars are missing because you get grouped with people in a classroom environment and they might be stronger than you in some areas like reading and writing but you might be stronger in areas like speaking. It's hard to cater for everyone and they do a pretty good job at allocating students to the right levels.

10/10 Activities

The school holds activities throughout the week. On Wednesday you have cultural workshops, Thursday is social night at a bar then Saturday is a school organised trip. The Saturday trips are awesome. You get to go on hikes, tea plantations, kayaking on the river, bicycle riding through quaint towns, swim in the river etc. They actually take you to spots that tourists don't know about and only locals do. It's reasonable in price too.

9.5/10 Value for money

You definitely get bang for your buck here. I am pretty sure i searched the whole search engine to make sure i was getting the best price possible for the best school i could find. I compared other schools and they were about 30% pricier. The 0.5 stars are lost because i still think for China tuition is on the pricier end. Considering my daily budget on food here is US$5 a day, comparing that to tuition seems like a vast difference.

9/10 Overall

I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I think it's a really special place, they go out of their way to make things work for you when you have changes in circumstances which i appreciate. Worthwhile doing some study here if you want to build on your Chinese. You meet great people from around the world and have the option of having a local Chinese language partner which is super helpful. I

Chinese is not an easy language to study so it is especially important to have the right conditions for that. Omeida is located in Yangshuo near Guilin so studding here lets you enjoy the peace and quiet of a small town, surrounded by amazing green mountains.
The staff here are super professional and classes' size is very small so the lessons are very personal. I spent here 4 weeks to polish my basic Chinese and I have had a very good time here. volunteering with the Chinese students who study English had given me a chance to get to know better different people from all over china.
I would recommend coming here if you want to study Chinese properly for the summer or a long period of time (some students come here for several months).

I stayed (studied and volunteered) at Omeida Academy for three weeks and it was one of the best three weeks of my life! I've met so many amazing people and there are plenty of opportunities to chat to other students, both from the Chinese school and also from the English school. You can also be signed up to have a Language Partner where you can practice what you've learned and improve very quickly. I did this and my Chinese level improved so much! Similarly, the Chinese students also want to practice their English with you, and my room mate was a Chinese student studying English, so every night we were able to chat together in Chinese and English which was a great for both of us.
The lessons were fantastic and my teacher, Twelve, was amazing. My class size was also really small and I learned so much as well as had so much fun! The text book was also provided for me, which was great! I'd never heard of the text book which was given to me but it's very clear and understandable, and I can still learn a lot from it even now after my lessons have finished. The benefit of Yangshuo is that not many locals speak English, so practicing Chinese outside of class wasn't difficult at all, and my Chinese friends helped me so much with pronunciation and grammar!
Food is also very cheap here, and there is plenty to do outside of lesson time, as Yangshuo is located very well in terms of scenic routes, hiking and other activities for travellers- Guilin is also a bus ride away (1-2 hours) but you can get there for 20-30 kuai depending on the bus driver…!
The only thing I would say is that the internet connection in the dorms is a little bit unreliable, but honestly, I found that I never needed it as I was always out exploring, having fun in West Street, taking photos or studying Chinese, it really depends on what sort of experience you want to have while you're here.
But all in all, I wish I could have stayed longer here! I'll definitely be back some time (if I can!) as Yangshuo is truly a beautiful place and the people at Omeida Academy are kind, understanding and very helpful with any issues. You really do become friends with everybody at this place and there is always something to do and somewhere to go, as well as the lessons being some of the most interesting and fun I've ever had, so I highly recommend this!
About volunteering: there were quite a lot of options I could choose from, but I chose to do Media and SEO. I went out to take lots of photos which was fantastic as I got to explore the local area as much as I wanted while doing what I loved! I got to then edit some of them to use for the school's Instagram and write blog posts about my experiences in China about many different things (from getting the train to living in Yangshuo), and I also learned many new things about Google Analytics and Trends etc. A great experience and something great to add to my CV!