By Li Han

Staff Writer of the Tsinghua News Center

Nearly one thousand Tsinghua foreign students from over 100 countries rang in the New Year on December 18 with an evening of memorable music and dance performances at Tsinghua’s Auditorium. Vice Chair of the Tsinghua University Coucil Shi Zongkai attended the event and extended New Year’s wishes to the students.

Meanwhile, more than 80 of Tsinghua’s overseas experts and their families gathered to celebrate New Year with Foreign Affairs staff and staff from different departments and schools on the evening of December 19.

In 2008, Tsinghua hosted more than 150 long-term overseas experts and over 760 short-term visit overseas scholars from 50 countries and regions including the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany, France, Australia, Japan and Korea. The overseas experts play a significant role in teaching and research at Tsinghua.