Learning

ABOUT THE EVENT: China’s Burma Road (1938-1942) acted as a channel for wartime material to move between British Burma and China during the initial years of the Sino-Japanese War. Prof. Rodriguez will examine how the development of this lifeline for China forged a powerful wartime narrative that helped consolidate support among Western nations to counter Japan’s invasion. The Burma Road gave rise to new ideas of connectivity that positioned China’s southwest region as a vital hub connecting the nation with Southeast Asia, India, and the rest of the world.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Andres Rodriguez (PhD Oxford) is Senior Lecturer in Modern Chinese History at the University of Sydney. He is the author of “Frontier Fieldwork. Building a Nation in China’s Borderlands, 1919-1945” (University of British Columbia Press 2022).

ABOUT THE MODERATOR: Cao Yin is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Peking University. He works on infrastructures, multispecies ecologies, technological circulation, and state formation in South and Southeast Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is the author of "Chinese Sojourners in Wartime Raj, 1942–45" (Oxford University Press, 2022) and "From Policemen to Revolutionaries: A Sikh Diaspora in Global Shanghai, 1885–1945" (Brill, 2018).

Discover a unique trilingual educational approach at Jazzy Preschool's Open Day (杰思幼儿园). Families can experience live class demos in English, French, and Chinese, tour the learning spaces, and meet the staff. This community event is designed for children aged 0-6 and their parents to explore the school's facilities.

Phone: 64179960
Wechat: 15110283398
More Info: Scan QR to register

Step into the future with CISB! This Discovery Morning (北京加拿大国际学校发现上午) is designed for Grade 6-12 students. Meet academic leadership and passionate educators to learn how CISB prepares students for university. Customize your day to your needs and explore a world-class educational environment in Beijing. Space is limited!

More Info: Scan QR code in poster to register

Join BCIS Courtyard Kindergarten (北京乐成四合院幼儿园) for an Open Day (园所开放日). Learn how to choose the right kindergarten, explore their educational philosophy, and enjoy an immersive campus tour. The session features Principal Suzanne and Curriculum Coordinator QiongQiong, offering expert insights and a Q&A for parents planning for the 25/26 school year.

Phone: 17801561725
Wechat: 17801561725
More Info: Scan QR code in poster to RSVP

Unleash creativity at this vibrant workshop in Sanlitun! Young artists aged 6-10 will explore portraiture using Matisse-inspired bold, unexpected colors. All materials are provided for this hands-on session at 北京市朝阳区工人体育场东路乙二号二层201. A perfect weekend activity to develop artistic skills and colorful self-expression.

Wechat: Miss Eliza
More Info: Scan QR code on poster to book

This is a hands-on workshop for kids (ages 6-10) who want to paint! We will be looking at the amazing artwork of Matisse and then creating our own portraits using bold and surprising colors. Some aprons will be available, but we advise that you wear clothing that can get a little messy. All materials provided.

Event will be conducted in English.

150 rmb per kid if you book ahead! The cost at the door is 200rmb.

Scan the poster to add the instructor, Miss Eliza -- she can answer questions and get you registered!

ABOUT THE EVENT: Optimism—which always has a gaze to the future—is the favoured state of mind in both capitalist and socialist societies. As offspring of Enlightenment thinking, these cultures have always encouraged happiness and optimism in their citizens and a belief in progress. History showed a steady improvement, they came to believe, and things would continue in this direction indefinitely.

Thinkers in the West, including Émile Coué in France and Norman Vincent Peale in the United States, sought to overcome the heroic melancholy of 19th-century European culture. In China, the New Socialist Person carried the banner of optimism out of the Soviet Union and into the society of the 1930s, where the political and literary figures Zhou Yang and Hu Feng debated how this new person should appear in stories and novels. By the 1950s, revolutionary optimism had become the expected state of mind for those living in a socialist society. Finally, in the 1960s, young people raised the question of whether, as revolutionaries, they deserved to be happy. Prof. Larson compares fictional characters, some of whom model optimism and others who fight its coercive and hypocritical demands, in the decades following WWII.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Wendy Larson is Professor Emerita of East Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Oregon. Her research monographs include Global Good Cheer: Optimism in Socialism and Capitalism (Oxford UP 2025); Zhang Yimou: Globalization and the Subject of Culture (Cambria Press, 2017; forthcoming in Chinese); From Ah Q to Lei Feng: Freud and Revolutionary Spirit in 20th Century China (Stanford UP 2009); Women and Writing in Modern China (Stanford UP 1998); and Literary Authority and the Chinese Writer: Ambivalence and Autobiography (Duke UP 1991). In 2025, Larson worked on her new research project on Nobel Prize winning author Mo Yan at Heidelberg University.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR: Jeremiah Jenne is a writer and historian who was based in Beijing for over two decades. He taught Late Imperial and Modern Chinese History in Beijing for 17 years. Now in Geneva, Switzerland, he is the lead columnist for The Archive Picks section at the "China Books Review" and hosts the podcast, "Barbarians at the Gate".

Dulwich College Beijing is hosting an Open Day (北京德威开放日) for its Senior School (中学部), catering to students aged 11-18. Prospective families can explore the campus and learn about the curriculum. Scan the provided QR code to register for this educational event taking place on Saturday, January 24th.

More Info: Scan QR code in poster to register