On September 5, Boya Distinguished Professor of the PKU School of Foreign Studies and Yenching Academy Dean Dong Qiang delivered a lecture titled “From Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Zao Wou-Ki: A Journey Into Chinese Culture Through Language” in English at the Yenching Academy. “Custom-made” by Prof Dong for the Cohort 2025, this was the inaugural lecture in the Topics in China Studies Lecture Series ...

On September 24, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Prime Minister of France and Shuhsi Hsü Chair Professor of Yenching Academy delivered a lecture titled “Connecting the World Through Culture: A Perspective on China and Soft Power from My Experience” at the Yenching Academy. It was the third lecture in our Topics in China Studies Lecture Series for the 2025‒26 academic year and hosted by YCA Dean Dong ...

I’m Deiniol from the UK, and reflecting on my decision to study at Yenching Academy, it seems in different ways both circumstantial and inevitable that I would follow this path in studying China.Firstly, my interest in China and China studies began as an undergraduate at Durham University where I took courses on Asian history and political economy, mostly out of curiosity and an urge to explore new ...

My China story starts back home in Buenos Aires. I’d often come across brief news clips that compress China into a single economic or geopolitical headline. Throughout my undergraduate studies, however, I began to feel those clips were missing a lot. I wanted to know the people behind the numbers, uncover the ideas behind the buzzwords, and see the art behind the statistics. That curiosity pus...

If someone had told me a few years ago that I would one day be part of the Yenching Academy, I would have probably smiled in disbelief. And yet, here I am—living a dream that was born many years ago, during my first Chinese language class at L’Orientale University in Naples.From the very beginning, I felt that China was my path. Despite the challenges, my motivation only grew stronger. Learni...

My China story begins with an earthquake.In April 2016, I was fifteen when a 7.8-magnitude quake devastated Ecuador’s coast. Over 700,000 people needed assistance and almost 100,000 were displaced. It became clear that my country wasn’t prepared for something of that scale, so we turned to international aid. That’s when China stepped in.From Quito, I received Chinese aid and also watched TV ...