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Feature: British barge begins slow journey to China to mark academic links

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

A slow boat to China started its long journey Thursday as a birthday gift to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an academic link between Liverpool and Suzhou.

The traditional narrow boat, similar to those journeying along Britain's extensive canal network, will travel along canals that run through Suzhou.

The narrow boat has not been taken to the oceans, but is making the 10,000 km journey above a container ship.

It marks the establishment in 2006 of the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).

The university opened in the world heritage city of Suzhou, China, in partnership with Xi'an Jiaotong University and has grown rapidly over the past 10 years.

It has welcomed more than 10,000 students in both Suzhou and Liverpool studying subjects such as computing, maths, engineering and architecture.

To celebrate the partnership, which is rooted in the maritime history between Liverpool and China, the boat was launched at Mann Island, once the departure and arrival point in Liverpool for millions of people.

The launch of the narrow boat, accompanied by traditional Chinese dragon dancing, took place at the same time as a display at Liverpool Museum's "East Meets West" exhibit.

Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool Prof. Janet Beer officially blessed the boat, called "The Liver Bird," before it set off on the its journey to Suzhou where it will also be used to host future university events.

XJTLU is based in Suzhou Industrial Park, one of Asia's most successful business parks, a hub for foreign investors, and home to more than 3,000 international organizations, including 84 Fortune 500 companies.

Executive president of XJTLU, Prof. Xi Youmin, said: "As we celebrate the extraordinary first ten years of XJTLU, we also anticipate an exciting future, with yet more expansion planned."

"Phase one of our South Campus will open in July with five new buildings that will help continue the tradition of East-West dialogue by expanding our capacity for international cooperation in research, knowledge exchange and innovation," Xi added.

The exhibition will explore 19th Century maritime links between southeast China and Liverpool, when ships would arrive in the city bringing an influx of goods to trade, as well as Chinese seaman who would eventually settle in Liverpool. Over time, these seamen established what would become the oldest and one of the largest established Chinatowns in Europe. Enditem