Is there a special visa needed for scholarship awardees or do we just apply for the normal student X?

Hi. I got a Confucius Institute Scholarship for Xiamen University from September 2013 to January 2014. In this case, since it is just six months, can I just apply for an F instead of an X? Do I need a medical exam for the F application? How long does it take to process it if my documents are already complete? Thank you.