Shantou
Guangdong Province Smaller cityHome of Shantou University — founded with support from Li Ka-shing — and the Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou is the heart of Chaoshan culture: tea-obsessed, food-obsessed, and one of China's strongest emigrant hometowns with deep ties to Southeast Asia.
- Shantou University's lakefront campus and GTIIT's Israeli engineering model
- Chaoshan food culture — beef hotpot, kway teow and gongfu tea
- Deep Southeast Asian family ties — a familiar culture for ASEAN students
- Low living costs by coastal-China standards
Living here
Monthly budget
CNY 1,800–3,500 (USD 250–490) / month incl. dorm or shared flat
One of the more affordable university cities on the coast — off-campus shared rooms are cheap and often walkable to campus.
Getting around
No metro yet — buses, taxis and shared bikes. Jieyang Chaoshan Airport (SWA) serves the region with mainly domestic flights; international trips usually connect through Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
Halal food
Chaoshan cooking leans to pork and seafood, so rely on the university halal windows and the Lanzhou noodle shops scattered through the districts.
Healthcare
The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College anchors care; students start at the campus clinic with insurance.
Climate
Hot humid subtropical summers and mild winters; typhoons can brush the coast July–September.
A compact city where buses, e-bikes and bike-share do the work (no metro); daily life runs on mobile payments, so arrange a local SIM and wallet early. Chaoshan dialect dominates street life, with Mandarin universal on campus and English limited outside it.
Factual fields as of 2026-09-21 — editorial estimate, not official figures.
Universities in Shantou (1)
0 English-taught programs tracked in this city — see them.