Young students gain glimpse of college life on winter break
By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-26 09:46
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Years before they reach college age, middle-school students are experiencing campus life at prestigious universities in Beijing by attending winter educational camps over their holiday break.
Living at the school dorm, eating in the canteen and attending humanities lectures by professors all give young participants a vivid glimpse of what real university life is like.
Wu Dalin, a senior high school student from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, said he spent an amazing five days last week at Peking and Tsinghua universities.
"The library at Tsinghua impressed me the most. I hope one day I can be a student there," Wu said, adding that after touring Tsinghua University, he is more determined than ever to do well in the university entrance exam in June and attend the school.
As another way to gain knowledge and experience outside of school, university camps are among the many programs offered over holiday that continue to grow in popularity.
Wang Yong, founder and owner of Shijimingde Co, an agency that has organized summer and winter camps for more than eight years, said up to 40,000 students from across China will come to Beijing for university camps during the winter holiday.
He estimates that more than 500,000 students will sign up for the summer program in July, double the figure in 2007 when the concept began to gain wider acceptance.
He attributes the dramatic increase this year to changes in parental mindset toward education as well as an emphasis on quality learning, loosening of security supervision in Beijing after the Olympics and alleviation of fears over H1N1 flu.
"I am sure children prefer camp activities over instructional classes," Wang said.
"It is their nature to play with friends. Camps provide them an excellent place to gain extracurricular knowledge and understand society through fun."
Beijing, followed by Shanghai, tops the list of most popular domestic destinations for winter camp programs. Cost of a university camp is about 1,500 yuan, Wang said.
Other holiday camps include English and sports camps that combine language instruction with recreation, and military camps, which are not common due to strict security requirements on venues and tutors.
