Christchurch is a perfect home for international students. In mid-1997 it was voted "The Most Friendly City in the World" by readers of "Travel and Leisure", the prestigious magazine from American Express. More than that, the same 9,100 readers voted Christchurch one of the 10 "Best Cities in the World." (Ahead of New York. Next to Paris and Vienna.)

Visitors like Christchurch for its small size, spaciousness, lack of industrial pollution, absence of traffic jams, its beautiful public parks, world-famous gardens, traditional English buildings and gracious schools.

There are two universities in Christchurch (Canterbury and Lincoln), a Polytechnic, a College of Education, numerous state schools, several private High Schools in the tradition of English Public Schools and also a range of fine English Language Schools.

Christchurch is a city of 309,000 friendly people. It has a brand new international airport, a high standard of living, a clean healthy environment, and is only a short drive from beautiful mountains and recreation wilderness areas. Almost half of the visitors to New Zealand from Singapore and Japan arrive through the new Christchurch airport terminal. The city is nuclear free, the center of New Zealand's electronics industry and chief city in a major agricultural province. Christchurch enjoys pleasant summer temperatures (averaging around 22 degrees) and brisk, fine winters (when daytime temperatures average 12 degrees.) Annual rainfall is only 500-700mm.