News by: Alex Hawke

Edited by: Molly Zhang

On December 24th, Lin Shangli, President of Renmin University of China(RUC)visited Silk Road School(SRS)where they met with students and teachers from SRS, and engaged in conversation with them, shared ideas,and proposals for the future of the school.

“It is the first Christmas Eve I have spent with international students.Today, sitting down together, sharing opinions as if we are sharing hot chocolate”, President Linsaid during his speech, where he thanked the concurrence of everyone to the meeting, and wishing them a merry Christmas and his best wishes for the new year.

Professor Jiang Xiaoli was the first to speak, she presented a report on the achievements and the future plans of SRS, soon after, Anastasia shared on her experience of living in China, and on the ever-growingrelationship between China and Russia. After giving her speech, she gave Russian chocolates as a Christmas present to both authorities and students, as a way of showing not only her generosity, but also as a way of sharing her own culture and traditions with the attendees of the summit.

Among the students who shared a few words with President Lin, were Anastasia from Russia, Putheany from Cambodia, Habakuk from Zambia, Lala from Pakistan, Kate from Poland, and Mercy from Ghana. They all talked about their experiences and lives while living and studying in China, the challenges they have met moving to this country, the responsibilities inherited in a master’s degree program, as well as the growth they have undertaken under a program that fosters the cross-cultural exchange. “The institution embodies the spirit of its namesake”, said Lala during her speech “connecting diverse cultures and fostering a sense of global citizenship”.

Difficulties aside, the students talked about the experience they have had, about the cultural shocks they have faced, the friends they have made, the trips they have made, and the rich culture they have absorbed and learned during their stay in China. Their experiences took the audience from the gardens in Humble’s Administrator Garden in Suzhou, to life in Beijing’s Renmin Campus.

President Lin talked about how the University is looking forward to making the Silk Road School have more presence in the international arena, to make it a more influential school worldwide.After hearing the testimonies from the students, he feels confident that the goals set on the school are slowly being achieved.

He also used two metaphors to refer to the development that Suzhou has represented for China, comparing the Yangtze River to a dragon, implying that Suzhou is the head of the dragon (如果我们把张江比作一条龙，苏州就是龙头), which would be a great asset to the research that everyone has made so far, including their personal projects; he also stated that he feels glad to meet the students from SRS, he feels that regardless of the distance between us, we come together as if by destiny (有缘千里来相会), he also praised the students, and told them that the fact that they are here studying in SRS, in RUC, is also a fate of destiny.

Finally, he talked about the symbolism that the dragon represents for Chinese culture, as a synonym for great leaps, wishing the students that the New Year brings them great progress in their goals, so that their dreams and goals may be achieved soon.

Finally, both professors and alumni had a picture to commemorate such event.