2018 AAUSJ Chinese Cultural Exchange Tour to Chengdu
2018 AAUSJ Chinese Cultural Exchange Tour to Chengdu
08
Jun
08/06/2018
2018 AAUSJ Chinese Cultural Exchange Tour to Chengdu successfully completed
The University of Saint Joseph Alumni Association (AAUSJ) delegation for the 2018 Chinese Cultural Exchange Tour, led by Vice Rector of University of Saint Joseph, Prof. Vincent Cheng Yang and Chairperson of AAUSJ Ms. Tang Cheng Lin, paid a visit to the provincial capital of Sichuan, which is known as the “Land of Abundance”, during 31st May – 4th June 2018. The delegation had a total of 25 delegates, includingProf. Alan Baxter, Dean of Faculty of Humanities; Fr. João Eleutério, Professor in charge of USJ Library; Prof. Maria Antonia Espadinha, former vice-rector; Ms. Teresa Loong, Director of Office for Student Affairs; Mr. Chan Kuai Son and Mr. Kensho Nagata, Vice Chairmen of Alumni Association; Miss Tam Wai U, President and Mr. Gary Lao, Acting Chairperson of USJ Students’ Association and others.
Ms. Cen Jiayi, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative accompanied the delegation and provided guidance during the tour.
The delegation visited the Bureau and Sichuan University, Southwest Minzu University (SMU) and Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU). During the entire visit, the delegation was accompanied by representatives of both the Liaison Office and the Education Bureau and was well received by the hosts. The delegates had meetings with officials, professors and students to explore possibilities of further exchanges and cooperation. The Education Bureau debriefed the delegates of recent development of higher education in Sichuan. The province now has a total of 119 universities, including 8 “double first class” ones, and a total of 12,000 overseas students, although only 38 of them are from Macau.
Sichuan University, a “Project 985 University”, hosted round table talks for the delegation to meet with professors and students from its business school, arts and news media school and school of foreign languages. The delegates deepened their understanding with the study, part time work and personal life of these participants. At SWJTU, the delegates were invited to tour the State Key Laboratory of Traction Power to further enhance their knowledge on China’s high speed transportation technologies.
The delegates were interested to know that SMU, as a comprehensive university for the ethnic minorities, offers many programmes that match the faculties and programmes in USJ, such as business, education, architecture, environmental protection, communication and media and religious studies. These programmes can be collaborated with USJ in the future.
In addition, the delegation also toured some UNESCO world Heritage Sites, namely, Dujiangyan Irrigation System and Mount Qingcheng, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. The tour enriched both the knowledge of the history and recent development of China, management of the UNESCO World heritage Sites and Giant Panda breeding research for the participants.
