UQ students tour China

Sixteen UQ students recently travelled to China for a month as part of a research internship study tour.

Organised by the UQ Confucius Institute in cooperation with its partner university in China, Tianjin University, the tour saw UQ students attend classes in Chinese language and culture, engage in lab internships, and participate in other cultural activities on campus and sightseeing in the surrounding area.

The successful students were selected for a tour focusing on the universities’ areas of mutual interest and strengths in civil engineering, urban planning, and Chinese studies.

Other areas of study also included music education, political science and Islamic studies, and 17th century Chinese landscape painting and the sublime.

Urban planning student Tom Hall said the activities helped him to gain a better understanding of the history, culture, and economic development of Tianjin, and China in general.

“We had so many great experiences that have been beneficial to [me] as a person and to my career,” he said.

“The tour provided an opportunity to mix both social and cultural learning experiences with specific research projects related to my studies, but with a foreign perspective.

“I have made many friends on this trip both from UQ and TU which I will stay in contact with.”

Tianjin University is one of the top universities in China, located in a major port city with a population of 12 million.

The research internship study tour will be held annually for the next three years, involving approximately 20 students each time.

The study tour was organised with the support of the Faculties of EAIT, Science, Arts and the Office of Undergraduate Education.

Further information about this opportunity will be available on the Confucius Institute at UQ website.

For more information about Tianjin University, please visit www.tju.edu.cn/english/.

Media: Lucy Li (07 3346 7898, weili@uq.edu.au)