University forged from past hardship

They gave up Shanghai for Xi'an 62 years ago. That is, 4,400 teachers and students traded their lives in a cosmopolitan coastal metropolis to teach or study in what was then a backward western settlement.

Xi'an Jiaotong University's early years is their story. Its future is their legacy.

"The central government made the very important decision to move our school (from Shanghai) to the western city (of Xi'an)," says 85-year-old Hu Naisai, who came to Shaanxi's provincial capital as an instructor at age 23.