When summer heat clears, everything under the sky glistens.

Our newly enrolled Scholars kick-started their academic activities at Yenching Academy. They set sail for the new journey on the Academy’s wings of interdisciplinary studies and warmth.

Prepared to immerse in group activities to build memories

The 2022 Cohort will study in three ‘bans’ (班, classes): Green Ban, Blue Ban, and Yellow Ban. On the evening of August 31, our Class Advisors and Scholars sat in online class orientations. The Class Advisors introduced the meaning of a Ban (class) and Banzhuren (Class Advisor), adding that the class represented a space for students to undertake diverse activities. They expressed hopes that every Scholar would work in concert for their class and actively participate in extracurricular activities to cherish every moment they spend together and every memory they create at the Academy. Details on the Academy’s offices, PKU regulations, and epidemic control issues were also clarified.

Besides, during the ban meetings, our six Residential Advisors from the 2021 Cohort held intriguing ice-breaking activities, including a Quick Quiz and a Group Game activity, to help the new postgraduate students become familiar with one another. The RAs also shared their life and study experiences at the Academy.

Set off for China with detailed guidance

Our Class Advisors and Administration and Admissions officers regularly contacted Yenchingers residing overseas on their entry formalities to China and related issues. During Orientation Week, more than 10 international students set off for China. Our Class Advisors offered one-on-one online instructions to the students to help ease the difficulties they met during quarantine. Also, a bilingual manual was sent to the students to help them prepare for campus life. Overall, the Academy and faculty have endeavored to facilitate our Scholars’ trips to China to resume their studies on the Peking University campus.

GSU Welcome Session: Building leadership skills through service to YCA

On September 2, YCA’s Graduate Student Union (GSU) Executive Committee held a welcome session, co-chaired by Hui Xin Wong and Zhao Qing. The EC members introduced the Union’s mission, vision and organizational structure, and their various activities held last year. They called our newly enrolled Scholars to join the Executive Committee, build leadership skills, and contribute in their unique capacity to the YCA Family.

Exploring the campus, exploring for fun

On the afternoon of September 3, the 2022 Yenching Scholars partook in the fun-filled PKU Discovery activities organized by our Residential Advisors and other volunteers as part of YCA’s Orientation Week events. During this campus-wide activity, our Scholars took photos at the Instagrammable places on the PKU campus, including the Boya Pagoda and the New Sun Student Center. Blending brain and physical games with a sense of adventure to find specific sites on campus, the activities spurred teamwork, drew our Scholars closer to one another, and helped improve their understanding of PKU’s and YCA’s history. It was a discovery journey of fun and friendship.

PKU’s opening ceremony

On the morning of September 4, 27 YCA Scholars from the 2022 Cohort attended the University’s opening ceremony at the May Fourth Stadium. The buoyed atmosphere of other excited first-year students and teachers’ remarks inspired the Scholars, giving them a firmer conviction on many things to expect for their future life and study at PKU and the Academy.

A festival of family reunion far away from home but warm

On the morning of September 8, Dean Dong Qiang, Assistant Dean Zuo Jing, and our Class Advisors visited the on-campus YCA Scholars’ dormitory at the Shaoyuan Residence to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a festival of family reunion.

Prof. Dong extended his best wishes to the students. He noted that in an international institution like the YCA, students could capitalize on the Academy’s resources and grow into better selves. Dean Dong hoped that our Scholars could make their contribution to society.

The warmth and support our newly enrolled Scholars received during Orientation Week will warm them throughout their two-year program and beyond their time at the Academy.