On March 6, Dean of Xinya College Mei Ciqi brought Qing Feng from the School of Architecture, Lin Weiran from the Fundamental Industrial Training Center, Jiao Yang from the Future Laboratory, and Deputy Dean Zhang Weite together with more than 20 students from Xinya College to share their winter overseas study experiences.

School of Architecture Associate Professor Qing Feng led Tsinghua's Architecture and City study tour to Italy with guided daily walks. Immersing participants in the intricacies of the urban landscape, the tour gives each student a chance to lead different sites. Afterwards, Mr. Qing was delighted to find the students' journals filled with observations on people, their expressions, actions, and lives, as they advanced from observing to conversing, understanding, listening, and engaging. Just as people are not objects, so do buildings embody history and breathe it in.

Qing Feng

Italy study tour participant Gao Letian was acutely aware of the language barrier limiting the insights she could glean from the streets, prompting her to plunge deeper into reflection. After her Italy experience, she stumbled upon Ionic and Corinthian orders while visiting the Yungang Grottoes of Datong, Shanxi Province, built during the Northern Wei. The two-thousand-year-old relics combined seamlessly with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Persia, and India, contrasting sharply with today's divided world, and she couldn't help but wonder which was more real, separation or integration? Hu Yizhen felt the cultural gap in Italy most strongly in food culture and the ancient sites, to which Mr. Mei responded with a thought-provoking question: Are these civilizational differences intrinsic or the result of a fork in the road leading in different directions and becoming more pronounced over time?

Fundamental Industrial Training Center Associate Professor Lin Weiran led 21 students on a study tour to Japan. For Japan study tour participant Wang Zhihao, the trip underscored the role of economic factors in maintaining peace, most evident in the way shopping experiences seemed to bridge the communication gap. Of course, even this process was not free from communication missteps, a misunderstanding leading Lan Xinliang to a similar realization. An understanding of how to tackle this cultural disparity is a core objective of Xinya's study tour practice program. According to Mr. Mei, there is a tendency for individuals locked within their own narrow-mindedness to make others into either monsters or saints. You must take a step back and embrace differences, contradictions, and even conflicts to start coexisting with others on equal terms.

Lin Weiran

Future Laboratory Assistant Researcher Jiao Yang led the study tour to the UK, his first visit there since completing his master's degree, where they observed public engagement and changing political fortunes at 10 Downing Street. He was most taken by the exchanges with British students studying Chinese language and culture at the London School of Economics and Political Science. From the social platform Xiaohongshu (known in English as RedNote) to the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber, the enduring influences of cultural exchange contrasted sharply with the geopolitical turmoil. UK study tour participants Dong Jiarui and Zheng Zheyu mentioned the power of the immersive experience over anything written on paper and the different perception firsthand experience offered compared to social platforms like Xiaohongshu. Regarding the contrast between the tranquil British countryside and the bustling global city of London, Zheng Zheyu wondered whether it were possible to maintain one's distinct identity amidst so much cultural exchange and influence.

Jiao Yang

Deputy Dean of Xinya College Zhang Weite led the study tour to the US, visiting Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, and the UN Headquarters, among others. US study tour participants Wang Zhexi and Wang Tingxuan were shocked to find in true cultural engagement a starting point for genuine understanding unlike anything they had initially anticipated from the fragmented glimpses available on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu. What should follow the loss of one's illusions? Mr. Mei advised everyone to approach overly reflective, or simplified, perspectives with caution. A true understanding of the world must find continuity amidst disruption and opposition.

Zhang Weite