Teaching Chinese as a second language started at Peking University in 1952. Among 40 internationally acclaimed people who have studied in China, 60 percent chose to study at the Peking University, including Timothy Geithner, the former US Treasury secretary, and Barry Marshall, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2005.
The School of Chinese as a Second Language as a research and teaching center was established at Peking University in 2002.
Wang Enge, president of Peking University, says the Florence Lee Fang Building will improve the environment of the language school and help promote Chinese as an international language. "I believe the completion of the building will become a warm home and academic center for those who are interested in the Chinese language," Wang says.
Jean Quan, the first woman and the first Asian-American to be elected mayor of Oakland, California, says Florence Fang has set an example for all Chinese living overseas.
"She never forgets that she is a daughter who belongs to China, and even if she does not live in China, she considers the country's development," Quan says. "If everyone had that same consideration, the world will become a better place."
Quan says she hopes the Florence Lee Fang Building will become a home to many international leaders, just as Peking University established itself for many influential people and others who wanted to speak Chinese.
She says because it is not possible for all US students to go to China to study Chinese, an exchange program with Chinese-language teachers should be set up.
Xu Jingning, a teacher at the School of Chinese as a Second Language, says the new building has improved her work environment and given her and her students many conveniences. "Previously, we didn't have our own office and students didn't have their space, but now, we have," Xu says.
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