A Stroll Through Stanford

This time I came to Silicon Valley with Gaoshan Academy for classes, and spent most of my time on the Stanford University campus.

Guided by a wise, elegant, warm and resilient elder, we covered much of this 33-square-kilometre campus on foot. For a week we attended classes in lecture rooms, ate in the dining halls, and took our lunch breaks on the lawns playing frisbee…

I've lost count of how many times I'd been here before, but this time I truly fell in love with the university and was won over by it. Not because of its fame and legends, but because of its atmosphere and institutions, so full of rebellion and openness, that spark creativity.

Besides innovation and rebellion, there are stories like these: every year, graduates bury meaningful objects beneath the paving stones in front of Stanford Memorial Church; and when Chiang Kai-shek's diaries were donated, the director of the Stanford library felt they belonged to China, so rather than accepting the donation, the library agreed to keep them in custody instead. These glimmers of humanity, interwoven with innovation and creativity, have shaped generation after generation of people who want to change the world.

I love this place; it has become a patch of soil in my inner world. Someday I'd like to come here to study.

By the way, Stanford's campus is said to have more Rodin sculptures than anywhere outside France.

The Burghers of Calais is one of Rodin's signature sculptural groups, and the story behind it is well worth looking up.