On the morning of April 8, 2011, Tsinghua SEM EMBA Programs finished retracing walks of Southwest Associated University. The event came to a successful close at Yunnan Normal University in Chenggong.

The hiking in Yunnan and Guizhou Province started in the beginning of April and lasted for a whole week. 153 participants hiked into Yunnan Province via Guanling and Qinglong, and then walked through Qujing Haifeng wetland and climbed over Dajian Mountain before they reached Kunming.

Launching meeting of the hiking team

This is the second phase of the hiking event. During November 25-28, 2010, over 100 EMBA students already hiked through Hunan Province. In the two phases, about 300 EMBA faculty and students covered 1,500 miles on foot in memory of journeys made by the Southwest Associated University, celebrating the spirit of “persistence and perseverance.”

Over the whole week, the hiking team walked about ten miles each day. The longest journey was made on April 4, when participants covered 16.9 miles. It was also the first challenge competition along the way. LIN Yingguang from 09E class and CONG Yin from 09F class won first place in male and female divisions respectively.

Dean QIAN Yingyi and Associate Dean LIAO Li with participants

In the last part of the walk, the hiking team climbed over Dajian Moutain (altitude 2,840 meters). Dean QIAN Yingyi and Associate Dean LIAO Li joined the team to face the most difficult challenge of the whole journey.

On the morning of April 8, Dean QIAN Yingyi and delegation visited the campus of Yunnan Formal University, which used to be the original site of the Southwest Associated University. A memorial monument was then inaugurated in the new campus of Yunnan Formal University.

Dean QIAN Yingyi of SEM and Dean YANG Lin of Yunnan Formal University inaugurating the monument

During the journey, two activities were also carried out: “Candlelight Project” and “Southwest Camp Talks.”

The “Candlelight Project” plans to recruit 100 local teachers from deprived rural areas in Yunnan, Guizhou and provide free training for them.

The camp talks themed on topics such as the spirit and responsibility of Tsinghua, the understanding of philanthropy, and the reflection on Chinese education. The last talk was held in Baiyi middle school. Hundreds of students of the school were present at the talk. “A lot of students here in Baiyi have visited few other places, not even Kunming,” said a faculty member of the middle school, “by simply being here you’ve offered a precious gift to those kids. They long to know the world from you.”