Great place to start in Shanghai

I found hutong from Google, even though the webpage is pretty well done, I was still hesistant until I met the people at hutong. First, it was great that I could communicate in English and get answers to my questions (believe it or not, not many people speak English in china). Second, all the people at hutong school are very friendly. And, don't worry about having no friends in china, cause they organize fabulous activities in which you can participate and make connections and friends. Last but not the least, teachers here at hutong are pretty good. They are prepared for the class. As long as you are willing to follow their instructions you will catch Chinese    pretty quickly. I am planning on staying in shanghai for a year until next March, and I am definitely sticking with hutong.