A stroll around Soochow University
Soochow University is one of the oldest universities in China and it’s located in the heart of Suzhou, within walking distance of Pingjiang old street (Soochow is the old romanization of the name of Suzhou, by the way). I’d always been curious and wanted to visit it, but never managed to find the time until one day last year. As I came to China as a student several centuries ago, studied Chinese in 2 different schools in Beijing, and visited many other colleges where I had friends, Chinese universities always bring me good memories.
Universities in China are like miniature cities. Most students live in dorms within campus and it’s perfectly possible to get everything you need without ever crossing the campus gates: there are shops, supermarkets and restaurants inside. At least when I was a student, more than 10 years ago, my Chinese campus mates didn’t really go out at night or do crazy things. I became friends with my language exchange partner and invited her to a party in a bar once; she told me she had never been in a bar (she was 23) and weren’t bars places where only bad people go? I’m not sure if it’s like this in all cities, though; universities in Beijing are highly coveted and only the best students from all over the country manage to get there after years and years of nonstop cramming and testing, so it’s only understandable that my friend never had time to waste in useless places. On the other hand, my husband says he spent his university years gaming in internet cafes and singing in rock bands… but I think that’s uncommon!
Soochow University didn’t disappoint when I finally had the chance to stroll around its grounds. By the way, Soochow is the old romanization of Suzhou’s name, like Peking and Beijing. According to its website, it was founded in 1900 by the American Methodist Episcopal Church.
Bust of Young John Allen, founder of Soochow University.
The university’s original name was Dongwu Unversity (东吴大学). Dong means east and Wu was the name of an ancient state which had its capital in Suzhou more than 2000 years ago.
The old campus gate with the previous name, Dongwu University.
Soochow University has a very pleasant campus with several Western style buildings from the beginning of the 20th century…
… but also Chinese elements, for sure.
And park-like, open spaces where students play sports and children run around.
I don’t remember seeing it when I went, but the university logo seems a little outdated:
Maybe a better English logo, more suitable to current times, would be “Unto a full grown person”.
Ah, I would love to be a student again!
Thanks for sharing. The Italians used to be like the Chinese where students never went to bars. Their job was to study, not be out partying. My mother/father had a tight lease on us, so to speak. :) I will have to read about how it was founded, thanks for the link.
That’s interesting about the Italians! I think now things have changed and they party a lot… like all students in Europe!!
Yes, it’s changed, but in the bigger cities. My mother’s cousins and their children/grand children are in a smaller town in Italy, they are still traditional and old fashioned. Not partying, instead studying and spending time with the family. Although, in Italy the birth rate is down because young people want freedom to travel and live life as they want, so don’t want marriage — which is true of the younger generation around the world. Interesting to see how this all plays out. For your son, because of computers/internet, life will again be very different. Now, in America many schools will have remote learning in the Fall — this is hard for parents who work.
It’s always intereting to look around at universities! Thank you for this tour. There’s always so much to see on a university campus. That is amazing some universities in China are like miniature cities. Here in Australia university campuses have maybe one grocery shop selling dry foods – and you have to go out to get fresh food and get more affordable food. Going to clubs and bars are the norm here in Australia. At the university I went too there was a club for weekend Pub Crawl nights. I guess the university culture here is different – studying but make sure you party too. The university orientation things were a big thing too and the later you stayed, the more you might get dragged to a bar!
Here in China it’s all about studying! Sometimes I wonder how students cope when they graduate. After a life in which the only thing they’ve done is studying, they suddenly find themselves out there in the world and some of them don’t have any life skills at all…
Exactly. It’s like studying is all you know. A lot of life skills are learnt outside of the classroom such as travelling. Not sure if universities over there encourages overseas exchange programs. These programs are hard to get in here.
Very western-looking, indeed. Are there a lot of green-spaces on Chinese universities not founded by westerners?
Yes! All of the campuses I’ve been to were very big and had a lot of green areas. They need to have some place for the students to exercise and relax!
Soochow University is beautiful. Its shady campus is a nice place for a stroll. When my daughters were choosing a university, we toured many campuses. Each one was different. The most beautiful, I thought, was Stanford. I particularly remember the art deco stained windows in its chapel. Princeton, also, is beautiful with its wide lawns, leafy trees, and varied architecture.
So different from my university! My faculty was not inside a campus, it was located in an old palace in the middle of the city. It was beautiful in its own way, and being in the city center definitely had its advantages!
Wow what a pretty campus! And yes, you took me back to my China days by mentioning the supermarkets and other stories within the campus… I remember I even got my hair cut in tsinghua university, haha! I do agree with you, that English slogan needs to be updated…!!!
Haha, there were no hairdressers inside the two campuses I studied at in Beijing, but many nearby!
It looks beautiful and a nice place to stroll! This reminds me of my university days and now I feel so nostalgic! I would love to go back to university again! Thanks for sharing!
Feel free to read some of my blogs :)
Interesting post, Marta. It’s nice to see the campus of one of China’s oldest universities. There is also a Soochow University in Taipei, which a friend of mine went to, that was established by alumni from the original Soochow University who had fled to Taiwan after the civil war.
I think there is a typo in the line below, ha. I couldn’t help thinking of your compatriot Matteo Ricci who really did come to China several centuries ago and engaged in a lot of research and studies himself.
“As I came to China as a student several centuries ago, studied Chinese in 2 different schools in Beijing, and visited many other colleges where I had friends, Chinese universities always bring me good memories.”
Haha, well it was more of a joke than a typo… I’m old 🤣
Ha, my mistake, I get your joke.
Also, sorry for mixing up Matteo Ricci’s nationality with yours. He was Italian while you are Spanish. He was a Jesuit priest who did a lot of religious and linguistic work in China.