On March 12, 2022, the Chinese Tree-Planting Day, Xinya Farm in Beijing is officially open. This is the fifth educational base of Xinya College, after the foundation of the former four, namely the bases in Wuyuan,Jiangxi; Yuyang,Shanxi; Jingbian, Shanxi; and Enshi,Hubei. Here, both teachers and students will do farming and learning together to improve their moral quality, intellectual level, physical fitness, aesthetic ability and labour capacity. In doing these, teachers and students are expected to explore a new module for the education on the hard-working spirit in Xinya College and to establish a harmonious community.

Xinya College has always been attaching great importance to the education on the hard-working spirit. In recent years, four similar educational bases are successively established in Wuyuan,Jiangxi; Yuyang,Shanxi; Jingbian, Shanxi; and Enshi,Hubei. By setting up these bases, Xinya College is aimed at exploring a new module of combining farming and learning with typical Xinya characteristics. In the early spring of 2022, thanks to efforts of all the teachers and students of Xinya College, Xinya Farm in Beijing was finally turned from an ideal concept into the reality and became the fifth educational base of Xinya College.

Xinya Farm in Beijing is situated in the suburb of Haidian District. Founded beside the mountains, it has not only the pleasing natural environment but also convenient transportation. Moreover, to enrich the lives of teachers and students here, there are also some workshops, reading and activity spaces in the farm.

On the afternoon of March 12, led by Mr. Zhang Weite (administrator of the student affairs in Xinya College), Mr. Zheng Jianhua (form teacher of the class 93 of Xinya College), and Mrs. Zhang Yu (assistant of the student affairs in Xinya College), Xinya students came to the farm to carry out the first spring tillage. They would be responsible for the whole process of turning the soil, sowing, fertilizing, weeding, watering, and harvesting, according to the agricultural law of the twenty-four solar terms. Under the guidance of the technician Mr. Ma, the students, divided into several groups (each group has 3 to 5 people and has both male and female students), began to choose their own contracted land and to allocate farm tools. Afterwards, they started turning the soil and clearing up clutter in high spirits.

Students are also working in high spirits

As an experimental area for the liberal education of the undergraduate students in Tsinghua University, Xinya College continues to explore the teaching form that combines the education of moral quality, intellectual level, physical fitness, aesthetic ability and labour capacity, and endeavours to expand the possibilities of the education on the hard-working spirit. Meanwhile, Xinya College, adhering to the principle of openness and sharing, actively invites teachers and students from other colleges and departments to participate together. This time, Mr. Wang Kaifeng (leader of the joint student group of Qiangji College) and Mrs. Li Yang (director of the office of the administration center of colleges) also led the first groups of students from Qiangji College to join the construction and exploration of the farm.