Peking University: April 8, 2017: On the morning of April 8, 2017, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Her Royal Highness Princess of Thailand, paid a visit to Peking University. As a sincere lover of Chinese culture and a great contributor to China-Thailand communications, Princess Sirindhorn grants her great concern and support to Peking University and its students. This morning, she went to Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center, Entrepreneur and Innovation center, and Biological Specimen Museum at Peking University.
Arrival of Princess Sirindhorn
At Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center, Chairman of PKU Council Hao Ping and many other PKU leaders gave a warm welcome to Princess Sirindhorn. During their meeting, Hao mentioned that it would be the 120th anniversary of Peking University next year, and he cordially wished that Princess Sirindhorn could participate in this grand event. He also expressed his wish that Princess Sirindhorn could write a book about her learning experiences at Peking University, which would be a great gift for the anniversary.
In recent years, more and more international students from Thailand came to PKU to further their studies, majoring in various subjects including mathematics, physics and Chinese art history. Some of them have already graduated and has become university professors or researchers. This friendly relationship is a result of mutual efforts of both countries.
Princess Sirindhorn with Hao Ping
Since Princess Sirindhorn has always been deeply concerned with the intercommunications between the two countries and breakthroughs in technological research field, Hao Ping mentioned the plan to establish a Sirindhorn Technology Innovation Center at Peking University to commemorate her contributions and efforts. “If you send excellent students from Thailand here, we would be very glad to offer scholarships to back up their studies in Beijing,” said Hao Ping.
Princess Sirindhorn then said that the 100th anniversary of her Alma Mater Chulalongkorn University last month reminded her of the 100th anniversary of Peking University. She sincerely expects a long-term cooperation in technological field between the two universities as well as the two countries.
Teachers and students also gave their calligraphies to Her Royal Highness as presents. One of them is a line from a popular PKU song Affections for Yanyuan written in ancient seal characters-- “below my eyes lies the tranquil Weiming Lake,” which signifies the everlasting spiritual pursuit of PKU students.
Calligraphy “Below my eyes lies the tranquil Weiming Lake”
After the welcome ceremony, CCTV (China Central Television) interviewed Princess Sirindhorn as part of the PKU 120th anniversary documentary. During the interview, Princess Sirindhorn expressed her affections for Peking University as a student and her admiration for PKU’s constant innovations in various fields.
Her Royal Highness then visited Entrepreneur and Innovation Center where student representatives displayed their model 3D printer, smart air purifier, unmanned plane, project management tools, etc. Hao Ping explained that it is one of the fundamental aims of Peking University to arouse students’ interests in entrepreneurship, activate their mind in social innovations, and finally guide them to transform business concepts into realities. “High quality education resources, practical resources and social resources will indeed help a lot,” added Hao. The treasured scroll of calligraphy “the strength of youth” written by Princess Sirindhorn in Chinese characters then pushed the whole ceremony to a climax.
Princess Sirindhorn, Hao Ping and student representatives
Princess Sirindhorn’s calligraphy “the strength of youth”
Her Royal Highness then went to the Biological Specimen Museum of PKU. Animal specimens from the northwest desert of China seemed to attract her attention and the specimen of the elk, commonly known as Mi-lu, added to her astonishment in China’s bio-diversities. She had a look around of Chinese herbal specimens as well.
The visit marked a gracious ending, however, princess Sirindhorn’s passions for intercommunications and technology developments will never come to a full stop, nor will our affections for her kindness or the evergreen friendship between China and Thailand. We shall remember and keep up the good work.
Reported by: Wang Chutong
Edited by: Xu Penghang
