Before you go:

I, for one, did very little advance planning or research before going to China. This was idiotic of me. The nice thing about this program is that it assumes you know nothing about China going in (although in some ways this is a mixed blessing: Starting from zero, you can only learn so much in an astonishingly short period of time). You don't have to do exhaustive research before you go. But these are some recommendations I've put together from my own mistakes and the suggestions of other former students:

• Apply for your visa! Queen's should give you everything you need to do this. If they don't, bug them. Note that you'll probably need something from Fudan guaranteeing your residence in order to get your visa. Allow for more time than you'll need, just in case.
  
• Buy plane tickets! (as far in advance as possible)
  
• Bring any medicine (aspirin, allergy meds, cough syrup, visine, stomach pills) you may need. Xiyao 西药 , or Western medicine, is hella expensive.
• Bring hand sanitizer. Or just buy soap and take it with you everywhere. You won't get soap in public washrooms in China. Trust me on this one.
• Bring tissues also.
• If you have a PC, update your virus software before you go. Macs should be all right, but your USBs may still get infected.
  
• Bring as much Chinese cash as you can. Banking fees can be rough.
• If you have the time and inclination, taking a course in Mandarin, or even buying a book or some tapes, can be a great help. If you have even the most basic linguistic foundation going in, you'll learn way more while you're there. I did not do this, and spent the first month or so entirely incoherent. I'm still mostly incoherent. But that's just me.
• Bring Canada souvenirs. Yes, most of these are made in China and they aren't terribly classy. But you can't get them in China and when you encounter people who have never seen a waiguoren 外国人 (foreigner) before, let alone a Canadian, they'll be thrilled.
  
• Read (or buy and pack) these books.