Beijing Language and Culture University — guide for international students

Beijing Language and Culture University is a key university directly administered by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. Its official history traces its roots to a Russian-language class in Yan’an in 1938, the 1952 preparatory department for students going to the Soviet Union, and the 1950 Tsinghua University Chinese-language class for exchange students from Eastern Europe. The institution itself was formally established in June 1962 as the Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students, renamed Beijing Language Institute in 1964, Beijing Language and Culture University in 1996, and given its current Chinese name (北京语言大学) in 2002 — the English name has stayed Beijing Language and Culture University.

BLCU is the Chinese university most closely associated with teaching Chinese to foreigners. According to its official introduction it receives more than 12,000 international students from over 140 countries and regions every year, and has so far trained 300,000 international students from 189 countries and regions who know Chinese and understand Chinese culture — the reason it is known as the "Little United Nations". It was one of the first universities to build Confucius Institutes and has built more of them than any other university (30 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms).

Academically it is broader than its name suggests: 64 undergraduate majors (18 of them national first-class undergraduate program sites) across 11 disciplinary categories, 4 first-level doctoral disciplines, 12 first-level master’s disciplines and 12 professional master’s degrees. Its main campus is at 15 Xueyuan Road in Haidian District, Beijing. BLCU also runs a campus in Hainan through its Hainan International College, and the admissions office’s 2026 allocation note sends most new scholarship students there for the first part of their studies — see Campus life.

BLCU admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, to an undergraduate pathway (foundation) program and to a wide range of non-degree Chinese courses. All applications go through the online system at apply.blcu.edu.cn, and the application fee is RMB 800 for degree programs and RMB 600 for non-degree programs, non-refundable. Three things set BLCU apart. First, the age window is unusually wide: the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral pages all accept applicants up to 55 (undergraduates must be 18–55; under-18s need the university’s consent and notarized guardianship documents). Second, from the autumn 2026 semester every undergraduate applicant must submit results of the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA). Third, almost everything is taught in Chinese — the HSK bar rises with the level, from HSK 4 (180) for majors open only to international students to HSK 6 for doctoral study. Most Chinese-taught majors take students only in September; majors marked with an asterisk on the undergraduate list (Chinese Language, International Chinese Language Education and Translation) also admit in March. Graduate study starts in September only. Note that the English-language graduate admissions page still shows an application deadline of "30th June, 2025"; the 2026 master’s and doctoral admission guides (in Chinese) give the current dates, which are used below.

Degree programs

Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.

Non-degree programs

Documents to prepare

Application timeline

These are the dates Beijing Language and Culture University published for the 2026 intake. That cycle has closed. Use them as a guide to when each step falls in the year, and check the official pages for the 2027 dates before you plan around them.

BLCU is one of the main hosts of the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship, and it also takes Chinese Government Scholarship students through four CSC channels, runs the Beijing Government Scholarship for its own admits, and has a BLCU International Students Scholarship (application form in the Download Center). One practical point matters as much as the money: under the 2026 allocation note, scholarship freshmen do not all start in Beijing. Undergraduates spend years one and two on the Hainan campus in double rooms and years three and four in Beijing in four-person rooms; master’s and doctoral students spend the first half of their program in Hainan; one-year non-degree students spend the first semester in Hainan. Only one-semester students, preparatory students and Chinese remedial students spend the whole program in Beijing. Scholarship enquiries go to scholarship@blcu.edu.cn.

BLCU’s research is concentrated on language: linguistics and applied linguistics, International Chinese Education, translation and interpreting, language policy and planning, language resources, language intelligence and technology, and the cognitive and brain science of language, alongside sinology and China studies. Its official introduction lists 4 first-level disciplines authorized to award doctorates, 1 professional doctorate, 2 postdoctoral research stations, 12 first-level master’s disciplines and 12 professional master’s degrees, and says the university publishes 17 core academic journals in Chinese and English. More than 50 staff have been selected for national or provincial-level talent programs. BLCU does not publish research funding or laboratory counts on its English admissions pages.

International study is BLCU’s founding purpose rather than an add-on. It has partnerships with 552 universities and educational institutions in 81 countries and regions, has built 30 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms — more than any other university — and runs a Tokyo campus, used for its Chinese-Japanese bilingual undergraduate degree. The same admissions office runs cooperative programs (pro-shao@blcu.edu.cn) and the Hainan International College.

BLCU does not publish employment or salary statistics for its international graduates on its admissions pages. What it does publish is scale: 300,000 international students from 189 countries and regions have been trained here, and its programs feed directly into careers in Chinese-language teaching, translation and interpreting, international business and China-related work. The International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship and the teacher-training courses are aimed explicitly at people who teach, or intend to teach, Chinese. For individual career support, ask the Office of International Admissions and Affairs.

BLCU’s Beijing campus is at 15 Xueyuan Road in Haidian District. The biggest practical question for 2026 scholarship students is which campus they start on: under the university’s allocation note, scholarship undergraduates spend years one and two in Hainan (double rooms) and years three and four in Beijing (four-person rooms); master’s and doctoral students spend the first half of their program in Hainan (double rooms) and the second half in Beijing (three- or four-person rooms for master’s, two- or three-person for doctoral); one-year non-degree students do the first semester in Hainan and the second in Beijing; one-semester, preparatory and Chinese remedial students stay in Beijing throughout in four-person rooms. In Beijing, rooms are booked through the Student Residence Center or the Conference Center; students may also live off campus, but must register with the police within 24 hours when renting privately. Short-term housing is limited to your study period, and long-term students are housed semester by semester under a signed housing agreement.

Accommodation

Dining

Canteens on the Beijing campus serve Chinese food, Western-style food, fast food and Islamic (halal) food; the admissions FAQ puts meals at roughly RMB 25–50 a day. Dormitory internet costs about RMB 100–200 a month.

Facilities

Reach the Office of International Admissions and Affairs (国际学生招生处), Beijing Language and Culture University for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Beijing.