Global Summit of University Presidents Plants Trees to Commemorate Tsinghua University Centennial and International Friendship

From the Office of Overseas Promotion

Beijing, China – (April 23, 2011) – After the inaugural meeting of the Global Summit of University Presidents, the delegates moved to the venue of the Centennial Garden and planted trees to commemorate the Tsinghua Centennial and their friendship.  

 The garden has been designed as a new landscape by a team of students from Tsinghua's Department of Landscape Architecture led by Professor Li Shuhua. All the trees are at least 10-12cm in diameter and 5-6 metres tall.

“We hope this family of trees will mark the collaboration and friendship between Tsinghua and our family of global partner universities,” said Yuan Si, Tsinghua Vice President. “Each participating university will have a tree in its name to plant in the Centennial Garden, a legacy that promises a flourishing higher education community and a thriving environment for fostering talents.”   

 Thirteen trees native to regions in China have been selected for the garden. Many are edible or have medicinal uses. Their introduction to the West, mainly at the turn of the previous century, made many of the trees familiar to Western gardeners. 

Species of the trees: Pinus bungeana (Lacebark Pine), Pinus griffithii (Himalaya Pine), Tilia tuan, Liriodendron chinensis (Chinese Tulip Tree), Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain Tree), Magnolia denudata (Yulan Magnolia), Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree), Aesculus chinensis (Chinese Horsechestnut), Catalpa speciosa (Northern Catalpa), Fraxinus chinensis (Chinese Ash), Pinus armandii (Chinese White Pine), Ulmus pumila (Siberian Elm), and Cotinus coggygria (Smoketree).

(Photo by Guo Haijun)