From September 5 to 6, 2017, Chongqing University welcomes more than 300 new oversea students and more than 200 short-term exchange students from 52 countries in five continents. Some of the students are from Angola and Israel, which are new to CQU. Till now, the number of countries sending students to CQU has reached 141. Those students will study in different schools and more than half of them will pursue a master’s degree or even a doctoral degree.
Some of the new students come and study at CQU in groups, including “straight-A students” and “muses”. The journalist finds at the welcoming site that many oversea students come to Chongqing University in groups, such as the group of 4 from Thailand led by Li Wen, and the group of 3 from Korea led by Li Xijun. What’s more, an American student named Amy is a real “straight-A student”, with impressive resume: She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Yale University, and her master’s degree at Harvard University. Amy is currently a doctoral student at Harvard University. From this semester on, Amy will study at the School of Construction Management and Real Estate of CQU as a senior scholar student for 1 year.
“One-stop” registration procedure is implemented, with caring services provided by volunteers. To make it easier for the new students to get registered, the School of International Education of CQU has set up the payment counter, scholarship issuing counter, identification photo taking booth, registration counter and the material releasing counter in a centralized manner, so as to provide “one-stop” services for new students. In addition, caring services are provided, such as free access to WiFi in the waiting area to allow students to contact in time with their friends and families back home and a volunteer team of more than 20 volunteers for airport pickup. In addition, free drinking water, reprinting service and photo taking are also provided to make them feel like home.
A “multi-function” volunteer team is set up to offer humanistic care. Volunteers in red-blue T-shirts with a printed school badge on the site are answering questions of the new students. This is a team of more than 20 foreign and Chinese volunteers, most of which are upperclassmen of CQU, knowing various matters in and outside the campus very well. They will help the new oversea students from airport pickup and registration to application for SIM card. An Indonesian volunteer named Mickey has said that: “The volunteer service aims to help students fit into the campus life as soon as possible. We will be playing some propaganda videos at the waiting area to allow them to know more about Chongqing University, which will make their learning and living in CQU easier”.
New students come and study in Chongqing for various reasons and some have even studied Chinese for 8 years. Those oversea students have their own reasons for “studying in Chongqing University” that are attributable to their unique experience. Loreneo from Italy has said that: “I have been learning Chinese since 2009 and now I’m able to conduct daily conversations in Chinese. My teacher has worked in Chongqing and he advised me to come to Chongqing University for further study.” Li Xijun from Korea has said that he decided to come and study in Chongqing University out of his love for traditional Chinese culture and that the volunteers are very helpful. Li Wen from Thailand have once visited Chongqing University for short-term exchange and is fond of the cultural atmosphere here. That’s why she decided to study here for 3 years. Another 3 students from Thailand accompanying Li Wen have studied Chinese language and culture at the Confucius Institute.
It is reported that in response to the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative of China, the Ministry of Education has set up for the first time the “Silk Road” Chinese Government Scholarship. With the joint efforts of the School of International Education and the School of School of Bioengineering of CQU, 31 Indonesian students have become the first winners of the Silk Road Scholarship, and they will pursue the master’s degree in bioengineering at the School of Bioengineering of CQU. On September 5, the first 20 Indonesian students arrive at the campus of Chongqing University safe and sound.
