Through 4 hours of class per day, my Chinese level improved dramatically. Guilin forces you to use Chinese. In Guilin, the environment is 100% Chinese.
CLI was created as a solution to traditional language learning programs. Rather than large classrooms and rote memorization, CLI helps students reach Chinese fluency through a carefully balanced and tested system of interaction, experience, immersion, guidance, and instruction.
Programs are fully customizable. CLI’s team of educators tailors each course to the individual student’s needs and interests, with a range of academic lenses that reach well beyond language study.
One month in Guilin was more productive than an entire year of coursework in a normal class.
Allie R., CLI student
Each year, CLI welcomes students from a variety of ages and backgrounds. To date, our youngest student has been 5 years old and our most experienced, 79. We welcome complete beginners and highly advanced students, as well as everything in between.
Since 2009, more than 5,000 students have come to CLI. About half come from the United States; Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France follow. One in nine is under 18, half are between 18 and 29, and one in seven is over 50. Around a third arrive as complete beginners.
Many come back. Our records include students on their second, third, and fifth visits, and one on his ninth.
Figures drawn from CLI enrollment records, 2012 to 2026, and our 2025 Year in Review. Average term is for the Immersion Program.
A community, a method, a university affiliate, a partner for schools, and a team. Each part is described below.
One of CLI’s central goals is to create a vibrant and welcoming community for students, team members, and friends and partners in Guilin.
Our weekly activities and travel excursions are designed to build bridges between diverse cultures by introducing students to local sites and community members and integrating CLI into the local community.
Student stories
The core of the CLI learning experience includes 20 weekly hours of one-on-one intensive language instruction. Rather than constantly vying for your teacher’s attention, students enjoy the priceless benefit of direct one-on-one communication in the Chinese language.
CLI has spent years cultivating learning methods and systems that create a unique immersion environment in which students hear Chinese, speak Chinese, and think in Chinese even outside the classroom, bringing each student’s learning potential to its maximum.
Explore our curriculum
CLI is an official affiliate of one of southern China’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, Guangxi Normal University (GXNU). Founded in 1932, GXNU has a student population of around 30,000 and offers a full range of academic disciplines.
CLI builds on the high-caliber international program already in place at GXNU, providing semester abroad CLI students with a quality university experience that has been supplemented and enhanced by CLI’s team of educators to maximize learning.
Immersion Program students also benefit from CLI’s affiliation with GXNU vis-à-vis access to local university resources, language exchange opportunities, campus events, and deeper engagement with student life in Guilin.
About Guangxi Normal University
At CLI, we provide an excellent opportunity for colleges and universities to expand their international presence in China without having to devote precious resources to developing a new study abroad program.
CLI’s managing partners have a combined China experience of over 20 years, and they have developed extensive China networks through graduate study at Yale, the Wharton School and Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, University of California Santa Barbara, and hundreds of high-level professional and academic contacts across the country.
CLI provides various on-the-ground connections in China, 24-hour assistance to students for the duration of their stay, both on and off-campus housing options, as well as many additional learning resources.
Faculty-led programs
More than 60 people work at CLI, and over 45 of them teach Chinese. Most are based full time in Guilin, with team members in London, New York, Madrid, and Taipei so that someone is awake whenever a student needs help.
The team also includes a chef and four ayis who cook the weekday lunch, keep the Center in order, and learn every student’s name within a week. Several of the people who opened the doors in 2009 and 2010 are still here: Dayong, Echo, Molin, Avril, and Kolok among them.
Abby Huang, School Director, and Anna Liang, Academic Director, lead CLI in Guilin today alongside co-founders Robert and Bradford Fried.
Chinese language and culture programs in Guilin, online, and across China.
One-on-one instruction and complete immersion within a safe, friendly language environment is among the most direct paths to Chinese fluency. Begin your stay in Guilin anytime and improve your Chinese each day within a focused and welcoming learning community.
Immersion Program
Earn full university credit at Guangxi Normal University (GXNU) while improving your Chinese through CLI’s daily one-on-one instruction and immersion-first community in Guilin.
Study abroad
CLI’s online Chinese lessons bring the classroom to you, providing the flexibility to continue your school or work commitments while learning Chinese. Our online lessons are held to the same high standard as courses taught at the CLI Center in Guilin.
Online lessons
CLI partners with a select number of schools and organizations to lead customizable study and travel experiences throughout China. Explore this section to learn more about joining a travel group or arranging a custom program of your own.
Custom programsThe CLI team has connections in virtually every industry and province in China. Our network is yours to utilize. If you need help navigating China, we’re here to make it happen. Get in touch.
Three answers to the question, from three students who came to Guilin.
Through 4 hours of class per day, my Chinese level improved dramatically. Guilin forces you to use Chinese. In Guilin, the environment is 100% Chinese.
I have studied many languages in university classes, in group classes outside of university settings, and one-on-one with private tutors, and I have never made so much progress so quickly.
Guilin is a wonderful place to study Chinese as it is local, slow-paced and extremely friendly. I’ve been to CLI 3 times now and every time I return my Chinese gets better and better.
From CLI’s 110+ reviews on GoOverseas. Read more student stories.
Nestled along the banks of the Li River, speckled with tens of thousands of karst peaks, and bustling with the arts, customs, and songs of southern China’s thriving ethnic minority groups, Guilin is a destination like no other.
The people, serene landscape, ease of transportation — the list goes on. Yet at CLI, we tend to view Guilin through the lens of language learning. This is where Guilin really shines: as a place to learn Chinese.
CLI’s founders intentionally chose Guilin after extensive travels through China and sub-par Chinese study experiences elsewhere. Guilin offers the ideal balance between city life and local charm. People here take their time, are friendly and welcoming, and are enthusiastic language partners. Explore Guilin.
有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎
Yǔu péng zì yuǎnfāng lái, bù yì lè hū
Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar? (The Analects, 1.1)
Begin your stay any Monday of the year and immerse yourself in Chinese language and culture with CLI as your guide.
