UM students visit Peking University for ‘A Journey through History’

A group of eight students of the University of Macau (UM) Cheng Yu Tung College (CYTC), led by the college’s Associate Master Dr Gong Yingxue, recently went to Yuan Pei College of Peking University for a seven-day exchange visit. The theme of the visit was ‘A Journey through History’, combining classroom learning with field trips, with the aim of integrating peer education with the study of Chinese history.

Eight students of Peking University’s Yuanpei College are expected to pay a week-long return visit to CYTC in September this year. Li Meng, dean of Yuanpei College, says that whole-person education is the goal of higher education in the future and he looks forward to more academic exchanges between the two institutions. Gong says that UM is committed to providing ‘4-in-1’ holistic education to its students and this visit has broadened the horizons of the students, which she believes will help them grow into good, patriotic citizens. She adds that she looks forward to receiving the return visit from Peking University students. 

To welcome UM students, Yuanpei College selected eight students to pair with the eight visiting UM students. During the UM delegation’s stay at Peking University, these eight pairs of students ate, lived, studied, and had fun together. To enhance UM students’ understanding of Beijing’s history, Assistant Professor Zhang Jianwei in the School of Archaeology and Museology of Peking University gave a lecture on the cultural and historical heritage of Beijing. Yuanpei College also arranged a workshop on the history of seal carving and rubber stamp carving. The students were fascinated by this ancient Chinese art form and tried their hands at carving rubber stamps.  

During the field trip, students visited the Palace Museum, the National Museum, the Summer Palace, Jingshan Park, Nanchenggu Alley, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Liulichang, and the campus of Peking University. Through the academic lectures and the field trip, students gained a deep understanding of the profound cultural heritage of the capital city of Beijing and fostered a greater sense of national identity. In addition to learning about history, the UM students also followed their peers into the classroom to experience being a student at Peking University for a day. They attended classes on space exploration, criminal procedure law, the history of the rule of law in China, and the general history of China. Finally, the students shared their thoughts on their week-long visit to Beijing, comparing the similarities and differences between the two places in terms of educational models, architectural styles, and cultural traditions.