On a recent trip to Shanghai, I was given a tour of Shanghai Jiaotong University. This university is renowned as being one of China’s oldest, most prestigious, and selective universities. It was founded in 1896 and currently has over 42,000 students, 1,598 of them are international students. This institution is known as a research university and offers 203 Ph. D. programs and 28 post-doctorate programs. The Academic Ranking of World Universities lists Shanghai Jiaotong University between 6 and 15 in all of Asia!
Their campus is lovely and has many interesting sights. I was told this statue symbolizes the freedom wisdom gives someone.
Like most university campuses, there are beautiful locations to relax or study. Sometimes you can find wildlife or hear water nearby.
As with most of the university campuses I have seen in China, the use of bicycles and scooters is very common. Jiaotong University was no exception to this observation.
My friend that was giving me the tour is a research scientist at the university. I actually met him in 2002 during my first trip to China. He was a Physics major, and it tickled me that his English was better than the English majors I met. I am very thankful for all of my good friends in China, even if I don’t get to see them very often!