LZU International Summer Program | Experiencing LZU’s Heritage and Sci-Tech Vitality

Recently, participants in the 2026 Lanzhou University International Summer Program (LZU-ISP) visited Lanzhou University’s Yuzhong Campus and sci-tech enterprises in Lanzhou New Area, gaining an immersive experience of traditional Chinese culture and a close-up look at the sci-tech vitality of this national-level new area.

Participants pose for a group photo at Lanzhou University. Photo by Liu Lei

In the morning light of Cuiying Mountain, the LZU-ISP participants entered Hongyuan Building on the Yuzhong Campus. Graduate students majoring in International Chinese Language Education at Lanzhou University’s School of Chinese Languages and Literatures prepared an engaging Chinese class for the participants. Starting with Chinese sound patterns, they taught the participants to read the phrase “Nǐ hǎo, Lándà” (“Hello, LZU”) character by character. With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, the class also included festival culture, introducing the origins and folk customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. The participants carefully wrote the greeting “端午安康”on red paper, focusing on each stroke. The event also included a fragrant sachet-making session. As the herbal fragrance filled the room, participants gained a real sense of the everyday atmosphere and cultural meaning of traditional Chinese festival customs through hands-on practice.

The School of Chinese Languages and Literatures holds an engaging class for the participants. Photo by Liu Lei

After the cultural class, the participants went to the dining hall for a dumpling-making workshop. Under the guidance of the chefs, they sat around the tables, kneading dough, rolling out wrappers, adding fillings, and pinching pleats amid laughter and lively conversation. The organizers also prepared sweet zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in leaves, which were served alongside the handmade dumplings. The international participants gave a thumbs-up to LZU’s thoughtful “double gesture.”
That afternoon, the summer program participants went to Lanzhou New Area, where they visited Lanzhou LS Group Co., Ltd. and Lanzhou Baohang New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. At the exhibition hall of Lanzhou LS Group Co., Ltd., a guide introduced the company’s history, high-end energy equipment manufacturing, and hydrogen energy research and development. The participants learned about the steady path of this established state-owned enterprise as it transformed from traditional petrochemical machinery manufacturing to green energy equipment manufacturing. At Lanzhou Baohang New Energy Materials Co., Ltd., the participants visited the central control room and then toured the smart production workshops, gaining a more direct understanding of the precision and efficiency of China’s large-scale new energy materials production.