hi Just_A_Gal, They would need a employment letter from a chinese company to apply for visa and then for temp residence permit (normally for 1~4 yrs) or be a student for student Visa. its not hard to get either one .. to my understanding they will never get chinese passport. i don't think any foreigner can ever get one...... someone please correct me if i am wrong 100,000HK$ is pretty good bargin for 3 bed room apartment in Shenzhen.. i presume you can find lots of english speaking locals in HK... but thats not the case in mainland china.. hardly anyone speaks english here although its far better than some 5~8yrs back but still pretty tough for new commers... even then all the best... hi hereb4u... where are you studyin???