Canadian currently in Europe; can I still apply for visa to China from here?

I am a Canadian citizen with my permanent residency in Edmonton, AB. I am currently in Europe, and plan to go to China from here. I just received news from the Anhui University that I was accepted to study Chinese there and they can send me the paperwork to apply for student visa. I have some friends leaving for Ottawa in a couple of days, so I wonder if I could send my passport and the rest of the needed documents with them, and if they could submit them on my behalf there, and when the visa is ready can they pick up my passport and send it back to me to Europe? My flight for China leaves on July 21.