Beijing Things to Do Tips by cuicui

Tsinghua University Universities Review

Tsinghua (Qinghua) was founded to be a preparatory school for selective Chinese youths before they were sent to the United States. Americans used some of the 'penalty' the Chinese government paid them after being defeated to bring brilliant Chinese future leaders to their home, and these overseas students were pillars of modern China! Part of this campus is America-like, other part is typically Chinese (the most well-known is the Lotus Pond that gave birth to the best prose about lotuses under the moonlight). I used to think this campus is grand, wide and long streets, bigger buildings, in comparison Beijing University is smaller but more home-like. Tsinghua is unofficially considered China's MIT. These two campuses are next to each other. They used to have unique strong points, but now both are aiming at comprehensiveness. I read at a scholarly and dainty journal (*Reading Books*) (I also heard from others) that students of Tsinghua are all top-notch and can become top national leaders, but that Beijing Univesity can produce *weird* talents. The picture is the Auditorium Americans helped build (downloaded from http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/eng/campuslife/xydy/Auditoriu.htm).

Beijing University Universities Review

The so-called oldest university of China, the so-called China's Harvard awarded by Pres. Clinton when he visited in 1998. The official founding year is traced to 1898, when some reformists who were influenced by western ideas suggested to the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty that China should have a Capital University. This University was merged with Yanjing (an older name of Beijing) University which was a missionary school. The present-day campus is the site of Yanjing University. The older part of the campus is 'Yan Garden', gardens for high-ranking officials of Ming and Qing Dynasties. (I bought this picture)

Address: somewhere on Summer Palace Rd., Haidian District