Peking University - Campus, Art and Culture

Campus, Art and Culture

The campus of Peking University was originally located north of the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing, and was later moved to the former campus of Yenching University in 1952. The main campus is located in northwest Beijing, in Haidian district, which was concentrated with many well known colleges and universities.

The Peking University's campus site is also situated near the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace; the area is traditionally where many of Beijing's most renowned gardens and palaces were built.

The university campus is located in the former site of the Qing Dynasty royal gardens and it retains many traditional Chinese-style landscaping including traditional houses, gardens, pagodas as well as many notable historical buildings and structures. There are several gates that lead into campus - East, West and South gates, with the West Gate being the most well known for the painted murals on its ceiling. Peking University is known throughout China, along with its neighbour, Tsinghua University, for their beautiful campuses. Weiming lake is located in the north of the campus, and is surrounded by several walking paths and small gardens.

The university also hosts many museums, such as the "Museum of University History" and the "Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology". Notable items in these museums include funerary objects that were excavated in Beijing and date back thousands of years from the graves of royalties of the Warring States period. There are ritual pottery vessels as well as elaborate pieces of jewelry on display. There are also bones of human remains set up in the traditional burial style of that period.

Beyond its main campus, Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) is located in Xue Yuan Rd. where the country's most distinguished colleges are located. The PKUHSC's campus is less aesthetically appealing than the main Peking University campus, but is nonetheless a fitting site for academics and research.

In 2001, Peking University's Shenzhen campus, the Shenzhen Graduate School, opened its doors. The campus is located in the northwest part of Shenzhen City.

In 2008, the THE-QS World University Rankings ranked the Peking University as the 23rd best university in the world in arts and humanities; it is also the highest ranked university from Asia in this field. The Peking University was previously ranked as the 18th (2007 rankings), 10th (2006 rankings), 6th (2005 rankings), and 7th (2004 rankings) best arts and humanities university in the world.

Peking University is well known for its contribution to modern Chinese literature, poetry and art, and for the publications of groundbreaking modern Chinese books such as Hong Zicheng's A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature. Peking University has participated in many joint art-research projects, such as the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) with the University of Chicago, and developing the "Peking University, Department of Digital Art and Design" with UNESCO. Peking University also partners with Stanford University for its Asian cultural studies programs such as "The Stanford Program in Beijing" and "The Stanford-Peking University Summer Program", which encourages Stanford students interested in exploring Chinese language, history, culture, and society to study on campus at Peking University.