Day 3: Roger Goldberg, ’00 YC,
Yale School of Management (SOM)
& School of Medicine ’08
Beijing, Friday, May 18

With so many incredible experiences already, it is hard to believe that today is only our third day in China. I did not believe the trip could continue to deliver on such a high level. I was wrong.

The day started with breakfast and a conversation with Mr. Zhang Xinsheng, the Vice-Minister of Education. He spoke about reforming China’s education system around three central principles: decentralizing control (from the central to the provincial and local governments), allowing for private tertiary schools, and creating multi-disciplinary and comprehensive colleges (undoing the Soviet-influence of specialized schools). Education reform, he said, was the key to making China a global innovation center, which, in the long run, would be required to sustain China’s economic development. He also shared with us his lifelong motto: “Don’t judge others by your own philosophy; keep an open mind.”

With the vice-minister’s advice in mind, we headed off to Peking University, where we heard from President Levin and President Xu Zhihong of PKU. The most interesting speaker, however, was a Yale sophomore who had spent the past semester at the Yale-PKU program, living in a Chinese dorm at the university. Her experiences were amazing, and the perspective she had gained on China — and the world — was clearly evident. I then headed over to PKU’s medical school, where I met several students. They are probably still shocked that Yale Med has no exams!

After lunch, we took the bus to Tsinghua University, the MIT of China, and the alma mater of President Hu. The students I met at the School of Economics and Management reminded me of my own classmates at SOM. They were very savvy to the global job market, and seemed to follow the same mantra I have heard many times at Yale: “Work hard, play hard.”

We then headed to the Forbidden City, where we were able to spend about 60 minutes in a private garden that had been totally restored by master craftsman and artists. This section is closed to the public, and is normally reserved for visiting dignitaries. We were there as the sun set, and the experience was magical. Throughout the trip, we viewed many of China’s amazing historical artifacts. At this moment, however, we were able to live that history, to experience firsthand what it must have been like to be the emperor. For me, this would remain one of the true highlights of the entire trip.