In the past four years I have studied a one-year intensive Chinese language course, a two-year MBA taught in a top tier Chinese university and, even better, I never paid a thing. How is that possible?

The answer is simple and it's certainly no secret.

Anyone willing to offer their two cents on China will always tell you one thing: guanxi is everything.

For you and your scholarship that means connections come first. If you're outside China, but you've got Chinese friends in high places or Chinese teachers with connections to Chinese universities then you're in.

As with any Chinese business interaction they'll just need to pull a few strings with the right people.

However, you may be in the same position I was in four years ago, which means that you know almost nothing about China and aren't lucky enough to have these connections.

Not to worry - there are two more options open to you.

1. Apply online

A quick google search will reveal a number of universities offering both partial and full scholarships. Chinese universities are being encouraged to accept more international students, which is good news for you because it means variety.

Variety in terms of location, course and scholarship type.

Don't be fooled into thinking you can only study Chinese or courses taught through the medium of Chinese. There are a long list of universities offering an even longer list of courses taught in English.

2. Dive in

The second option relates to how I gained my scholarship, which was from diving into China headfirst, fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

This foolhardy approach paid off, because one other thing people will always tell you when talking about China is this: opportunities are everywhere.

My first 6 months in China were spent primarily teaching English. I also self-taught Chinese, explored my surroundings and built connections.

These three things in combination lead to me finding out about a local university rowing team. I love exercise and wanted to practice my Chinese, so I began training them with them.

Eventually they allowed me to study Chinese for one year, free of charge, in return for joining the team.

By the end of that year I was able to communicate with the management team, so we agreed a deal for me to continue on the basis that I would be provided with a full Confucius Institute Scholarship to study an MBA.

This doesn't mean you have to be a sports fanatic or offer a particular talent. In fact that's irrelevant.

Many of my classmates had been given scholarships because they: (1) knew a student previously/currently enrolled who could introduce them to someone; or, (2) had been referred by a teacher on a previous course at the university or in their home country.

Basically we all shared one thing in common: we gained our scholarships through our connections.

Guanxi may not be essential to gaining a scholarship in China, but it certainly makes everything much easier.