For the very first time, the Department of Chinese and History (CAH) welcomed teachers and students from the Department of Sinology of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Bavaria, southern Germany.

Prior to visiting CityU on 11 March 2019, the group of two teachers, two postgraduates and eight undergraduates toured Guangzhou and Shenzhen for 10 days.

Their visit at CityU began with them interacting with CAH students during a Modern China lesson. Then they went out of the classroom and joined more graduate and undergraduate students of the department for lunch. After lots of fun and intriguing chat, a quieter activity was arranged – a tour of the University’s library. Of course, they did not miss the exhibitions about Chinese calligraphy and the daily lives of people during the late Qing dynasty, which allowed them to glimpse the depth of Chinese culture and history.

The highlight of the day was a reception in which they met and exchanged ideas with around 50 CAH students. As sinology students, they were curious to learn about every aspect of Chinese civilisation, including Chinese language, philosophy, culture, customs, history and politics. Sharing the same passion and desire to learn, the CAH students grasped every chance to talk with the guests from afar and from very different backgrounds. The interactions among the participants made this activity both enjoyable and rewarding. Professor XU Yan, Head of the Confucius Institute of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and Professor Michael LACKNER, Head of the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities, also joined the reception.

Having received positive feedback from the teaching staff and students of both universities, the University of Erlangen- Nuremberg is considering setting up regular student visits to Hong Kong.