A line-up of prominent speakers has been arranged for a Harvard University-related summer program for Chinese high-school students next month.

The speakers at annual HAUSCR Summit for Young Leaders in China (HSYLC) would include New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, former head of Google’s China operations Kai-Fu Lee, and Chinese TV host Shui Junyi, said program spokesman Du Jing on Sunday.

About 7,000 high-school students had applied for the course, for which the fee is 3,600 yuan (530 U.S. dollars), but only 600 had been accepted, said Du.

The program is operated by the student-run Harvard College Association for U.S.-China Relations (HAUSCR) and will be held simultaneously in Beijing and Shanghai from August 12 to 23.

It would offer seminars, classes and extracurricular activities to promote critical thinking and foster “social entrepreneurship and citizenship,” according to the HSYLC website.

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The 64 Chinese students and 11 teachers in town from Shanghai, China, split up in groups Thursday to perform various forms of community service to local organizations.

One group of students from the foreign exchange program sponsored by the Forte International Exchange Association helped clean up the facilities at the Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Mansfeild.

The Chinese students are in Mansfield for 12 days taking English classes at Mansfield Senior High School and learning about American culture.
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More than 800 students from 16 senior high schools in Taiwan visited the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Tuesday, with their admission tickets presented to them by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng.

The Taiwanese students are in Shanghai to take part in a summer camp along with students from senior high schools in the Shanghai area.

Huang Yu-I, principal of the Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School, who is one of the chief organizers of the summer camp, told CNA that the Taiwanese students visited the China Pavilion before going to the Taiwan Pavilion.

Afterward, she said, some of the Taiwanese students went to the World Expo’s Puxi area, where the Taipei Pavilion is located. The students were then allowed to visit various other exhibition sites of their own choice.

According to Huang, the students are being provided with free meals and accommodation during the camp. Each student was also given World Expo coupons worth 200 Chinese yuan (US$29.50) that can be used for buying food and gifts at the Expo.

Huang said the summer camp, which will include a forum scheduled for July 22, will help broaden the Taiwanese students’ visions and knowledge through one-to-one communications with their Shanghai counterparts.

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The Top Business Schools in the US for Chinese Students

After two year of interviews and research we have compiled our lists of top business schools and Executive MBA (E-MBA) programs for Chinese students looking for study opportunities in America, Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore and New Zealand.

We will be listing the top five schools in each country in no particular order. The criteria used to evaluate schools differs greatly from that used by US News and World Report and others. We queried parents and prospective students during our travels about those issues that most concerned them and most affected their choices before and after admission. The rankings displayed are unbiased and were not affected by our affinity for any program despite one of the schools being a strong supporter of the Blog of Dreams.

Criteria:

• Openness Toward Foreign Students/Ethnic Diversity
• Financial Assistance
• Post Graduation Placement Assistance
• Faculty to Student Ratio
• Overall Reputation of Graduate School
• Campus Safety
• Ease of Application/Admission Office Attitude
• Affordability: Living Costs, Tuition
• Curriculum
• Student Life
• Internship Options
• Salary After Graduation
• Alumni Network

Top Five Business Schools in no particular order for the second year in a row:

• Purdue: Scored highest in Ethic diversity (Chinese students make up 2nd largest population), Alumni Network, Graduate School Reputation, and Curriculum. Downside: “Too many foreign students”

• Ohio State: Scored highest in Student Life, Ease of Application and Financial Assistance. Downside:”Community off-campus lacks resources”

• Cal Poly: Scored highest in Affordability, Campus Safety, Faculty to Student Ratio, Graduate School Reputation (Top Overall Masters Degree Granting Institution in the West) and Post Graduate Placement and salary (for state run schools). Downside: “Application procedure daunting and deadlines are not in line with desirable schools”

• Harvard: Scored Highest in Reputation, Alumni Network, Salary After Graduation, Faculty to Student Ratio, Ethnic Diversity, and Internship Options. Downside: “Impersonal admissions personnel and application procedures”

• University of Minnesota: Scored highest in Ethnic Diversity, Curriculum, Campus Safety, Ease of Application. Downside: “Off-campus life lacks diversity and weather is difficult for some”

Other schools close to making the cut: University of Arizona, Columbia University, UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Iowa…

Welcome to any first time Travvie (Travel Blog Award) visitors. I thought it might be good to share with you the brief history of the Dreamblogue and how it came to be.

The Blog of Dreams began innocently and with a very small scope: Yanzhi and I were teaching in Macau, and as part of a class project in Global Internet Marketing we organized a blog project. Both of us and our students were frustrated by the stereotypically negative and uninformed commentary found on so many blogs about China–no this week is not new in perceptions if western media coverage. In the spirit of creating a positive voice for China and raising some money to help with charitable causes, we created The China Dreamblogue,. It was to be a site that focused on creating 100% positive China content and a mission to create educational opportunities for Chinese students and a chance for an international audience to find out more about what is right with China.

Soon the “Dream Team” team exploded with ideas for promotions and getting people around the country involved. We worked on a Technorati campaign to get favorited, participated in contests, and held our own photo contests to get people involved. Everyone was excited and happy that we were brainstorming creative ways to engage, not isolate China and its people.

During this same time in China, Yanzhi had become connected to a group of women he began to call, The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, cancer survivors who had banded together to provide each other with strength, support, and encouragement during a times of deep t crisis. Yanzhi also introduced me to his former student, Coffee, who I later taught. She was and is a remarkable woman who has overcome bone cancer and a leg amputation to train for a professional UN translator certification program in French and has been an intern with the blog for over a year.

Entranced and empowered by the positive force of these women living their lives with freedom and courage, Yanzhi and I decided to take inspiration from these women and other people who were willing to live out their dream. As a part of our pro-China campaign, the two of us had a mission: we as two American teachers would travel around the country for a year on sponsorship from ethically responsible businesses and institutions. Our plan was to visit every province an interview someone from each province and at least one person from each of the fifty-six ethnic minorities in China.

As we began our travels, we also planned to use the Dreamblogue to do good in China. Knowing about the remarkable number of students and new graduates in China who struggle to find jobs, we agreed that we would begin an internship program that would teach students about online marketing, digital media, and professional/corporate blogging, all skills which are extremely important in China’s growing Internet environment and a skill set which few people in China have. So far, we have trained a number of interns and worked with them to develop their skills and knowledge in regards to digital media. We have focused on finding and working with students of remarkable ability who have little chance to take part in the remarkable changes and opportunities available in China.

As an additional part of helping people to achieve their dreams, we have continued to seek out schools and regularly post information on the blog about top schools around the world that are well-equipped and suited for Chinese students, such as the Cal Poly Orfalea School of Business. To this day we have had a number of students who were part of the Dreamblogue get in to top schools around the world, including the University of Michigan, UCLA, Columbia University, Ohio State, Purdue, and others.

To this day, Yanzhi and I have completed about a third of our journey, taking time to continue to accumulate material on the Dreamblogue about different aspects of China, running our photo contest here, and continuing to work with our interns to help them find schools and develop skills in digital media.

China MBA: Cal Poly State University

MBA留学：Cal Poly

中文:

China MBA Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Cal Poly Masters in Industrial Technology

Masters in Industrial Technology Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Pound-for-pound we think the Cal Poly MBA is the best in the world….

Created by The Greatest Living American

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I recently received some information from Tom, our friend from the Library Project, sent us some fantastic news about the Library Project and its latest developments.

“The past three months have far exceeded the The Library Project’s goals and expectations. There is so much to share – from our new home in Xi’an, China to an incredible list of schools benefiting from our support – so let’s get started.

“In September, The Library Project donated our first library to a Chinese countryside elementary school. The Xin Xing Elementary School is located an hour outside of Xi’an, in the ShaanXi Province. Over 500 students in grades 1-6 attend the Xin Xing Elementary School. During our pre assessment we discovered the school library’s uninviting environment and general lack of age appropriate books. Most of the books in the existing library were written for high school or university students with a total of less than 50 children’s books for grades 1-3.

“The Library Project provided 500 children’s books for grades 1-3 and a child-safe reading area with comfortable and colorful furniture. We provided a wide range of children’s books including: history, science, short stories, fairy tales, “pinyin” books for very young readers, children’s dictionaries, children’s reference books, and an assortment of comic books. We also provided a full set of children’s encyclopedias for older students. Every book was in full color and of the highest quality. The Library Project provided colorful child-safe tables and chairs, posters and a globe to populate the previously empty room. Once the library was completed, we held a party to celebrate our accomplishments with the children. Twenty “star” students were chosen to participate in arts, crafts and games. One of our activities had the children draw their “dream library”. We learned that most children want a library located outside consisting of colorful books which float in the air. (We’re working on that concept for a future library.)

“Without a doubt The Library Project has improved the level of education that the Xin Xing Elementary School provides to its students.

“We didn’t stop there. In October The Library Project completed a phenomenal feat of donating three libraries in three days. The libraries are located at three different elementary schools in the countryside of Xi’an: the Si Qing Elementary School, Bai Lu Yuan Elementary School and Mi Cun Elementary School. Furthermore, all the items donated were upgraded from our previous library. We provided higher quality books, better seating, sturdy wooden tables and bookshelves custom made at a local factory, and we even found cacti and plants to put on the tables and shelving.

“Providing three libraries in three days pushed us both mentally and physically. We had a team of over 20 volunteers helping with the delivery of the materials, setting up furniture, sorting books, and playing games with the kids in their new library. Through our experiences we learned this one simple fact: that when The Library Project arrives in a countryside school, the students go absolutely crazy. The madness usually begins when we pull up in our large truck and the children come running out of their classrooms.

“For our next goal, I need your help. In the past we have benefited one school at a time and now we are looking to help an entire school district. We want to make a clear IMPACT on the level of education an entire school district will be able to offer its students. Our first school district we would like to help will be the Ba Qiao School District (the same school district where our last three elementary schools were located).

“The Ba Qiao School District is an hour outside of the Xi’an city center. This area was hit very hard by the closure of state run factories over the past twenty years. Because of the closures and the lack of work, the average annual income is less than 2,000 RMB ($266), and there is very little hope that things will change for the better in the future. To learn more about the Ba Qiao School District, please click here.

“If you are interested in Adopting a Library or adopting a group of schools through our Adopting a School District programs, please click here for more information. You can also send me an email at [*tom@library-project.org* ] to ask any questions about the library adoption process.

“Furthermore, our website has been updated and improved to help both large and small donors have a better idea of exactly how their financial contributions are put to work. We also added an Adopt a Library page for those who would like to provide an entire elementary school with a library. The page also contains information on the Ba Qiao School District. Everyone who donates to the Adopt a School or Adopt a School District programs will receive a Library Completion Report for the specific library that you supported, along with a beautiful hardcover book celebrating our past libraries and the communities and schools we have worked in.

“I am very happy to announce two new additions to The Library Project’s team. Jenny Wang is our first full time employee in China. Jenny is from Hunan Province and has lived in Xi’an for the past ten years. A short list of some of her accomplishments these past few months have been getting us a 20 – 65% discount on children’s books at the country’s largest chain of bookstores, managing our growing list of partners in China, spearheading the completion of our first four libraries in Chinese countryside elementary schools, and doing non-stop assessments of schools and orphanages. Welcome aboard Jenny!

“I am also very happy to announce that Kevin Kruse has joined our Board of Directors. Kevin Kruse joined in August and has been an incredible addition to the team. Kevin has been instrumental in helping create a solid business foundation for The Library Project. He was also our first donor to support our Adopt a School District program. To learn more about Kevin, please check out his bio by clicking here. Welcome Kevin!

“Lastly, please check out some of our new products for the holiday season. We created 50 book, 100 book, 250 book and 500 book gift cards available at $1 a book. Each card also has a beautiful picture of a past library we have donated. The gift cards are a perfect holiday gift idea. To check out our new online store, please click here.

“Your help is greatly appreciated. Click here to make a donation and help give the gift of education and opportunity to a child in Asia. As a result of your donation you will receive photos and a Library Completion Report on the library you helped make a reality. Your donation truly does make a difference.

“The Library Project is a non-profit organization. Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Thank you in advance for your kind support of our efforts.”

Sincerely,
Thomas Stader
The Library Project
Founder

The University of Maryland Smith School of Business Shanghai, China

Recently, during my trip in Shanghai, I had the opportunity to speak with Steven Feld, the Executive Director of Professional Programs and Services at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business at the Maryland Center China in Shanghai. What I found was a man with a conviction to foster the growth of a business school in China that could live up to the growing needs for talented managers and can provide people who have already succeeded at doing business in China a chance to hone their skills to a new level.

I have to admit that the interview’s beginning was little rocky. Because of a delay in my flight, I arrived at the Center, bags still in hand, about an hour and a half later than I’d planned. Fortunately, I was able to sneak into another interview and get a few shots at a question and answer. Dr. Feld was happily answering questions from a Chinese newspaper. I decided to go for the big one.

“So, how are you going to compete with Harvard? How about Duke? What have you got for the big guns?” I ask. Dr. Feld Steve Feld just grins. I know he’s been asked this question a dozen times before, and his response is fitting for a man who left Wharton to manage a program sitting on the fence between great and unbeatable.

“It’s all about service,” he said. “If you come to the University of Maryland’s EMBA program here, you get the same quality and the same teachers you’d get as if you were in the US. We don’t water down our program for China.”

And with that, I smiled, reached for my notebook, and realized I’d left it in the cab. Red-faced, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my bag and began writing furiously as Dr. Feld talked about this EMBA in China.

He also pointed out the way in which the program had been made administratively simple. “Our students have an average of 15 years of experience,” Dr. Feld pointed out, “and they are juggling families, running their companies, and completing 54 credit hours of school in 18 months. So we need to help them by making the administrative process of this course–buying books, registering for courses, receiving grades–as simple as possible.”

There were several key points that stood out as Dr. Feld talked. One was his sense of commitment: from everything he said, I could tell that the Smith School is not some kind of attempt to offer a mediocre program to a China hungry for, but an administratively simple program designed to produce the same quality of education that has given the University of Maryland its distinctive international reputation. A key point of the program is that the same professors who teach at the University of Maryland deliver the lectures and do the teaching just as they do in the US. Dr. Feld also stressed the three core competencies of the program: globalization, techonology, and innovation and entrepreneurship, which he believes will be core principles rising entrepreneurs and businesspeople need to master in the coming years of business.

Smith has some impressive ranking as well. Though it’s name is just beginning to come to China, it’s international reputation (ranked #17 in the world and #5 for its research department) is long-standing. One of the most interesting points of discussion I had with Dr. Feld was about the school’s impressive research rank. Can a school with a rank like that deliver good quality teaching, I wondered? Or would the faculty at the U of Maryland feel so much pressure to perform in research that they would neglect their teaching duties? Dr. Feld, as always, gave a delightful response. “Well, we have two ways to respond to that. First, we have research centers designed to disseminate the information from our researchers to the public and to interested parties. Second, we have a really smart dean who created a staff of teaching professors who aren’t obligated to do research. And what this has done is increase the standard of teaching at the University of Maryland, so that both the teaching staff and the research staff frequently get rated highly for their teaching.”

There is a saying China (isn’t there always?): “麻雀虽小, 五脏俱全.” Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs. And though Maryland is by no means a small school in any sense of the word–its reputation and abilities place it among the best in the world–its name is only beginning to gain weight and force in China. Despite this, the programs the University of Maryland offers in China–its EMBA as well as its professional development courses–are designed with care and clever precision to deliver high-quality instruction to China’s business leaders.

A final update: interested readers can check out the Smith Business Intelligence site, a great source of useful information about the latest business information in China.

中文

This past weekend I traveled to Shanghai in order to attend the 2007 China Education Expo, an annual traveling expo showcasing international study abroad opportunities for Chinese students. While there, I also had the chance to catch up with several bloggers, speak with Steve Feld, the Executive Director the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, and spend some time with Christine Lu of the China Business Network. I have to admit that serendipity seemed to follow me as I met up with a number of people, from a helpful and friendly group of Casablancan businessmen on the plane to the Chinese watch salesman that helped me find an Internet Bar when I needed it most.

This week I’ll be writing stories about my adventures and some of the fantastic dreamers I met in my few short days in Shanghai. Photos and maps will follow. Unfortunately, my camera battery died a quick, painless death on this trip, but others have been generous enough to donate their own photos.

Photo courtesy of Ken Yip.

PS–My regrets to missing Chris Carr of Cal Poly MBA Trip‘s latest visit. He was in Beijing and I was not able to meet up with him to hear about the latest on his MBA program in California.

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