Site of the Changxindian Preparatory School for Students Going to France for Work-Study Programs, Educational heritage museum in Fengtai District, Beijing, China.
The Site of the Changxindian Preparatory School for Students Going to France for Work-Study Programs is a two-storey square French-style building of 251 square metres at No. 18 Deshanli, inside the campus of Changxindian No. 1 Middle School. Built in 1918 as a residence for Guo Changtai, head of the train depot of the Beijing-Hankou Railway, it was converted that summer into classrooms for the preparatory school. A permanent exhibition occupies the building.
The building was put up in 1918 by the Beijing–Hankou Railway Bureau as a residence for train-shed manager Guo Changtai. That summer Cai Yuanpei and Li Shizeng of the Sino-French Education Association had it converted into classrooms for the Changxindian branch of the Higher French Language School, whose foundry, machinery and fitter classes drew over 100 students from across China. They enrolled in summer 1918 and left for France in winter 1919; Mao Zedong visited the Hunan students in winter 1918 and March 1919.
The building was originally a residence built by the Beijing-Hankou Railway Bureau for Guo Changtai, the train-shed superintendent, before the Sino-French Education Association's Cai Yuanpei and Li Shizeng had it converted into classrooms in 1918. The school was also called the Changxindian Branch of the Higher French Language Specialized School, Industrial Section, with casting, machinery and fitter classes. Mao Zedong visited Hunan students here twice, in the winter of 1918 and in March 1919.
The site is located in the Changxindian Subdistrict and is easily accessible by public transport. Plan to spend time reading information displays, as the exhibit consists mainly of documents and photographs.
The building was first a residence built by the Beijing-Hankou Railway Bureau for Guo Changtai, head of the train depot, before the Sino-French Education Association had it converted into classrooms in 1918. Its 251 square metres stand inside the campus of Changxindian No. 1 Middle School, and since 2013 it has been protected as part of the Changxindian February 7 General Strike site.
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