Peking University

Today was an early start with breakfast at 8:15am. By 8:45 we were piling into the bus and on our way to Peking University. I was very curious about this place, seeing as everyone called it the Harvard of China, and I go to school by Harvard. I was glad to find out that the only similarity between the two was their school ranking. The campus was absolutely gorgeous, definitely more beautiful than red brick. I was interested to find out that the campus used to be the official imperial university in the late 1800’s. The continuous life of the campus, beyond just housing Peking University is something unique to China. In the United States, even amongst old colleges, the campuses were built for that school. The idea of a university moving locations is one that I never once considered. Like at Wellesley, our campus was built for our university. That in itself is an integral part of its identity. But with the campus of Peking University, it not only represents the university’s history, but also the history of China itself. That apparently is why so many people come to visit the university, aside from its beauty. Isn’t that interesting?