New Tsinghua students complete orientation, start fall semester classes

Students attend Professor Rick Dunham's first Multimedia Reporting class on September 14.

Classes are underway at Tsinghua University after a combination online and in-person orientation for new students.

All of the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication's Chinese students and two international Global Business Journalism students already in China attended orientation on campus. Thirteen of the 15 Global Business Journalism international students participated remotely after being unable to secure student visas to China for the fall semester.

Classes began on September 13 and will continue through December 31.

International students tour the Tsinghua library during orientation.

Here is a summary of the orientation events from the International Students and Scholars Center of Tsinghua University:

• Guo Song, deputy director of the International Students and Scholars Center, gave an orientation lecture to the students on Sept. 2 introducing Tsinghua’s cross-cultural emphasis, providing statistics on the diversity of Tsinghua’s international students, and describing the functions of the International Student Scholars Center. She called her office "the home of international Students" on the Tsinghua campus.

• The official opening ceremony of the 2021-2022 academic year took place on Sept. 3, with Tsinghua President Qiu Yong, Academician Luo Jianbin, student representatives and freshmen representatives making speeches.

• The university offered free tours of Tsinghua's art museum, history museum and libraries during the orientation week. At the art museum, students visited the special exhibition "Mizuki Zhan Tsinghua: Nature in Chinese Painting" and were able to see some Ming and Qing paintings that had never been publicly displayed before.

• A Sept. 7 event for international students sponsored by the Tsinghua University Student Union featured a video appearance by Chinese Olympic champion rifle shooter Yang Qian, a Tsinghua student, and in-person presentations by students from China, Russia and Iran. In her video, Yang urged students to do their best to be fully involved in whatever they do. "At the same time," she added, "I hope everyone can enjoy the study and life in the [Tsinghua] Garden 清华园."

TSJC student Li Chenxi wrote on the official university WeChat account that the online activities for international students would "actively deepen their understanding of the school ... and prepare them for faster entry into university life" when they finally arrive in China.

Click here for the original WeChat story from the official Tsinghua feed.