Shantou, known as Swatow in the local language, is a coastal city, one of the most important open-to-the-world harbors and Special Economic Zone in Guangdong Province in China. It is located in Teochew/Chaoshan area, the east of the province near the border with Fujian.Shantou City has a total area of 2,198.7 sq. km., it had a permanent resident population of 5.6082 million at the end of 2017 and hometown of millions of overseas Chinese.

Shantou has well-established cultural tradition and rich cultural heritage. such as Chaoshan dialect, Chaozhou opera, Chaozhou music, Chaozhou cuisine, Gongfu tea, Chaoshan arts and crafts, and Chaoshan folk custom.

Shantou University (STU), founded in 1981，is a comprehensive university jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Li Ka Shing Foundation. It is the only public university in the world that receives long-term funding from the Li Ka Shing Foundation. The University has several campuses, Sangpushan Campus is located in the northwestern part of Shantou, covering a total area of 1.26 square kilometers, Eastcoast Campus located at seaside of the east part of Shantou.

The University consists of 14 colleges and schools, namely, College of Liberal Arts, College of Sciences, College of Engineering, Medical College, Law School, Business School, Cheung Kong School of Art and Design, and Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication, School of Public Health, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Mathmatics and Computer Science, School of International Education, School of Marxism and School of Continuing Education. It enrolls qualified students from all over the country (including Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Taiwan) and abroad. Currently, the University offers Cheung Kong Scholar Professorships, provides 5 Post-doctoral Programs, 3 Doctoral Program for first-level discipline and 39 Doctoral Programs for second-level disciplines, 15 Master’s Programs for first-level disciplines and 104 Master’s Programs for second-level disciplines, as well as 15 Professional Master's Degree Programs. Currently STU have over 20000 students.