Wuhan University is a key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. It is located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, and known as "the thoroughfare leading to nine provinces". The university features spectacular natural surroundings with the scenic Luojia Hill in it and the beautiful East Lake by its side. Its 373 hectares camp
us is wooded and green, and has fragrant flowers everywhere all the year round; the buildings are in special architectural styles, magnificent and mansion looking. Therefore, Wuhan University is acknowledged as one of the most beautiful universities in the world. Wuhan University dates back to Ziqiang Institute, which was founded in 1893 by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty after the Qing Government approved his memorial to the throne. Later, its name changed for several times before it was finally named National Wuhan University in July 1928. By the end of 1946, the university had six colleges, i.e., the colleges of liberal arts, law, sciences, engineering, agriculture and medicine. During its 120 years history, Wuhan University has gradually formed a glorious innovative tradition and is now enjoying a very high academic prestige. With the approval by the State Council of China, new Wuhan University was founded on August 2nd, 2000 with the amalgamation of four first-rate universities – original Wuhan University, Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electrical Engineering, Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping, and Hubei Medical University. At present Wuhan University has 6 faculties and 37 schools, covering 12 areas, namely Philosophy, Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine, Management and Arts, with 124 ungergraduate programs, 347 graduate programs, and 243 doctoral programs,including 7 undergraduate programs and 6 master degree programs teaching in English. There are numbers of large well-equipped teaching buildings, laboratories, gymnasiums, sports grounds, swimming pools, archive buildings, and a specimen building. The university's libraries have a collection of approximately 5.2 million volumes, and subscribe to more than 10,000 kinds of Chinese and foreign periodicals. It now has 5 key State-level laboratories, 11 State-level laboratories, 2 State-level research centers in engineering, 7 national research bases for humanities and social sciences, 10 national bases for basic science talent development, and 32 post-doctoral stations. The university now has 55,000 students, including 34,000 undergraduates and 21,000 graduates. The teaching staff consists of more than 3,700 teachers, including 3,000 or so professors and associate professors,1200 doctor supervisors, 8 academicians of Chinese Academy of sciences, 8 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 3 academicians of the international Eurasian Academy of Sciences and 9 well-known senior scholars of arts and social sciences. During the last ten years the university has established relations of academic cooperation and exchanges with over 415 universities, colleges and scientific research institutions in more than 45 countries and regions. Since the 1950s, Wuhan University has taken a lead in enrolling international students in China. Ever since then, the university has recruited and trained several thousand foreign students coming from more than 100 different countries and regions worldwide. All students have received systematic training and a substantial part of them have earned Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral Degree. At present there are over 2000 long-term international students at Wuhan University, and half of them are actively pursuing degrees. Wuhan University accepts international students into its Bachelor, Master, Doctoral programs as well as other advanced programs in liberal arts, sciences, and medicine. The university also provides a special Bachelor of Arts program called the Chinese Language for International Students and there have been seven groups of graduates from the program. Besides all levels of Chinese language teaching, the university provides courses such as Chinese literature, Chinese history, Chinese economy, Chinese philosophy and Chinese law for international students. To fulfill their different requirements, these courses will introduce basic knowledge of the society, economy, history and culture of China. The School of International Education of Wuhan University is a dedicated school for foreign students enrollment, administration and management, as well as the Chinese language teaching and training. It is also one of the few centers for HSK examination and for the qualification examination for the teachers teaching Chinese language to foreigners in China. The college, with abundant teaching resources and quality teaching and scientific research strength, has 34 teachers giving Chinese language courses to foreigners. Among them, 14 are professors or associate professors, 4 are the members of the World Chinese Language Society for Foreigners, and 30 are the members of China Chinese Language Society for Foreigners.
