Welcome to CHI 331, a communication oriented, advanced-level Chinese class for third-year Mandarin Chinese students! In this course we will further develop integrated Chinese language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, but will especially aim to elevate our writing skills to the "essay" level. This course will not only enable you to familiarize yourself with the economic, political, and cultural situations of the contemporary Chinese-speaking world, and thereby prepare you for study abroad in China, but also facilitate your transition to a more formal style of the Chinese language.