I’ve decided to spend a year in China for the sole purpose of improving my Mandarin ability. I’ll have to work to support myself so I will not be attending university to study as a full-time student. All my practice will come from self-study and immersing myself in the language from the environment around me. 

I would like to live in an area where the local dialect is the same or is as close to Mandarin as possible, so I would love for people to share their knowledge with me on this…