On the morning of December 5, 2025, the college’s "China Expert: Chongqing Tour" series of activities and the "Perceive China · Step into Chongqing’s Intangible Cultural Heritage" cultural practice course were successfully held at Yuzhong Vocational Education Center. 24 international students from 8 countries including Belarus, Côte d’Ivoire, Russia, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan, led by Zhang Yuansong (Party Secretary), Geng Jun (Deputy Secretary and Vice President), and Wang Que (Director of Training Center), entered the campus to immerse themselves in the unique charm of China’s excellent traditional culture.
At the beginning of the event, the international students learned about the school-running history of Yuzhong Vocational Education Center and the campus cultural concept of "Virtue, Beauty, Harmony" in the teaching building hall. They then visited several high-level training rooms including Internet of Things technology application, elderly care, makeup, hairdressing, western pastry baking, coffee and tea art, gaining an intuitive understanding of the diversified development and humanistic connotation of modern vocational education.
At the subsequent unveiling ceremony, the International College of Southwest University officially established the "Perceive China" Chongqing Intangible Cultural Heritage Practice Base at Yuzhong Vocational Education Center. Secretary Zhang Yuansong stated in his speech that intangible cultural heritage is a vivid witness to the continuous inheritance of Chinese civilization, and Chongqing’s intangible cultural heritage is an important carrier of Bayu culture. The establishment of the base is not only an important measure to implement the "Perceive China" brand building of the China Scholarship Council, but also an innovative exploration to promote the integrated development of international Chinese education and vocational education. He looks forward to the two sides taking this as a starting point to carry out long-term in-depth cooperation in areas such as the training of international students in China, joint course development, and cultural exchanges, to jointly tell Chinese stories and spread Chongqing’s voice.
Huang Chaojun, Principal of Yuzhong Vocational Education Center, expressed his gratitude for the trust and support from the International College of Southwest University. He pointed out that vocational education shoulders the dual missions of skill education and cultural inheritance. The school has long integrated intangible cultural heritage into its professional courses, will fully support the construction of the base, and looks forward to a strong alliance with the International College to build a high-quality demonstration platform for China-foreign cultural exchanges.
After the ceremony, all participants took a group photo in front of the training building. Subsequently, the international students were divided into two groups to experience unique intangible cultural heritage projects: in the tea art training room, students learned the Song Dynasty dot-tea technique, personally whisked tea soup and drew patterns on tea foam; in the craft experience area, everyone tried making traditional floating lacquer fans, feeling the flowing and changing beauty of lacquer art. The immersive experiences of different projects deepened the students from various countries’ understanding of Chinese culture and emotional resonance through hands-on practice.
It is reported that this event is an important practice of the International College of Southwest University integrating the "Perceive China" brand building with the "Vocational Education Going Global" strategy since the establishment of the "Education Going Global Research Institute" in June 2025. It is also a key initiative to serve the construction of Chongqing’s vocational education "inland open highland" and the "Double High Plan" project. In the future, the college will continue to expand its cooperation network, conduct in-depth investigations and unveil more high-quality cultural practice bases for international students and cultural exchange platforms, contributing the strength of universities to promoting Chinese culture going global and enhancing people-to-people connectivity among global youth.
Southwest University (Southwest University)
It is a key comprehensive university directly under the Ministry of Education, co-built by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Chongqing Municipality. It is one of the first batch of national "Double First-Class" construction universities, and a university under the "211 Project" and "985 Project Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform" construction.
Southwest University traces its origins to the Eastern Sichuan Normal School founded in 1906, which was renamed Sichuan Provincial College of Education in 1936. In 1950, Sichuan Provincial College of Education merged with National Women’s Normal College to form Southwest Normal College. Departments such as agronomy, horticulture, and agricultural product manufacturing merged with the private Xianghui College founded in 1946 to establish Southwest Agricultural College. In 1985, the two schools were respectively renamed Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University. In 2000, Chongqing Light Industry Vocational University was incorporated into Southwest Normal University; in 2001, Southwest Agricultural University, Sichuan Animal Husbandry and Veterinary College, and the Citrus Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences merged to form the new Southwest Agricultural University. In 2005, Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University merged to form Southwest University. In the same year, it was designated as a key construction university under the national "211 Project". In 2017, the university was selected as a national "Double First-Class" construction university.
