CUSEF Blog

In December 2018, a delegation of twelve graduate students from three top American universities traveled to China with the China-United States Exchange Foundation, to explore three cities in the country: Beijing, Yinchuan, and Shanghai. For the group of first timers in China, all the locations opened their eyes to the realities of the country, but each in their own unique way. The delegation gained insight into the transformation of Beijing as the city shifted from a sort of grey austerity to an international capital with a more environmentally conscious governance. Many noted that hearing multiple ex-patriots state that the air quality was the single largest drawback of living in the Chinese capital surprised them, but also clearly expressed the unique draw that Beijing holds for many outside of China. The additional day of tours to both the Great Wall and the Forbidden City provided a taste of the vast imperial history of the city, which students deeply enjoyed, taking pictures... Read More

Nia Rene from Borough of Manhattan Community College: “Education is the key to a successful career as well as a path to major increases in economic standing for an entire family. Our students have been in the People’s Republic of China for two weeks and I noticed great transformation in their understanding of culture and tolerance. They realize that the people were not very different from themselves. We have enjoyed the teaching style and comprehensive content of the lectures, from which we have attained a spark of motivation. The students were able to make connections between their research work in the U.S. and the global impact of a successful innovation.” Read More

Julie Yang from Georgetown University: “From the two female scholars at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies to the retired PLA General, I was taken by the confident and insightful women we met throughout the trip. That being said, like many parts of the world, much progress is needed for the country to achieve greater female representation at the highest levels of government.” Read More

Peter Wilder from Georgetown University: “The recent China Study tour organized by CUSEF and the Georgetown Initiative for US-China Dialogue has given me a fantastic insight into the minds of our largest competitor. During this trip I was able to get a sense of the strategic overall goals of China, as well as an insight into the cultural background of this key player on the world stage.” Read More

Koffi Apegnadjro from Bronx Community College: “Renewable and sustainable energy system technologies and products are needed to be developed in China and the developing parts of the world, utilizing current and future methodologies and technologies, motivates me to have a biochemical energy systems engineering study discipline. China has plans to eradicate the use of fossil fuel for energy by investing in the renewable energy technology system more than any county on earth. The lithium-ion battery technology is mostly use in their electronic vehicles but the efficiency of the battery needs to be improved.” Read More