Editor's Note
Today marks International Workers' Day (May Day), let’s read some TsinghuaRen’s stories, send our gratitude towards their hard-working and devotion to campus.
Serving satisfying meals to TsinghuaRen
for 40 years and counting
“Every day, we get up at half past three and begin to prepare breakfast. Three hours later, the canteen opens, and students gradually begin to arrive. By the time breakfast time is over, it is almost ten and lunch starts merely an hour later. At five o’clock in the afternoon, dinner time begins, with loads of students coming until late at night.”Zhang Qifeng describes what his and many of his colleagues' typical work day looks like. Zhang is the manager of the Tingtao canteen, one of the many canteens at Tsinghua. He has worked at the canteen for the last 40 years, preparing a wide variety of dishes for the Tsinghua community on campus around the year, even during holidays. Following in his father’s footsteps, Zhang had started out his cooking career as an apprentice cook at Tsinghua. His father was a cook at Tsinghua for 30 years. Today, Zhang is one of the skilled chefs on campus, his cooking skills winning both awards and hearts.Since starting his career, Zhang constantly pushed himself to excel as he worked his way up. Over time, he became the main chef at the Tingtao canteen, winning numerous accolades. Some of the dishes he added to the canteen menu while serving as the main chef — particularly an eggplant dish and another red-cooked pork one — are highly sought after by many on campus. Even after graduation, some alumni return to the campus to try those two dishes.His dedication to his work is equally admirable. Since 2001, he has spent more than 20 Chinese New Year holidays on campus, preparing meals for students and staff members unable to return home due to various reasons. “Once at Tsinghua, we live within the same campus; and as we have New Year’s Eve dinner together, we live in each other’s hearts,” says Zhang, referring to the special dinner his canteen prepares every year on New Year’s Eve.As an experienced hand, Manager Zhang in recent years has also attached great importance to mentoring young cooks. One of his apprentices came first in the National College Cooking Contest, and another won the gold medal in another national cook-off.Safeguarding campus around the clock
Tsinghua University is fortunate enough to be surrounded by a group of people who work quietly behind the scenes to keep the campus safe. One such figure is Tsinghua’s security guard Zheng Yi, who was recently awarded “The Advanced Individual in the fight against Covid-19.” “We are guardians. It’s our responsibility to be on standby,” says Zheng, whose work has only grown busier, with Beijing reporting several COVID-19 cases recently. Zheng’s phone constantly rings, his WeChat with messages from his colleagues looking for him. “We don’t have a fixed holiday. We need to and have to be on 24-hour standby. That’s our duty and responsibility,” emphasizes Zheng. Besides medical staff and volunteers’ safety, Zheng is responsible for the logistic arrangements for carrying out vaccination and nucleic acid testing, such as material preparation, equipment debugging, service personnel division, training, and staff dining service. Zheng remembers vividly how all his team members sprang into action one night at around 2:00 am last year when they were informed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of a confirmed case not far from the Tsinghua campus. “Despite hard work, my job also gives me a strong sense of fulfillment. The work my team and I do related to epidemic prevention and control has prompted me to consider the issue of safety and security even more seriously because the epidemic is not a personal matter but is, in fact, linked to everyone’s safety in society. The epidemic experience has strengthened my realization of my responsibility and devotion,” Zheng says.Exemplifying selfless dedication, all community workers protect us around the clock despite the risk of infection and exhaustion from overwork. As the saying goes, “After the storm comes the rainbow.” Through unified efforts, we have full confidence, capacity, and determination to defeat the epidemic again.
Making TsignhuaRen feel at home
“The Student Apartment complex is a very dense area, so safety is our top priority,” explains Wu Xiangzhi. Starting as an ordinary officer and now serving as the department's manager, Wu has been working in the department of student apartment affairs for the past two decades. Throughout her 20 years of service, she has strived to build a loving, caring, and safe community for students on campus.When asked about the most memorable experience in her 20 years of service, Wu says, “Definitely the first few months of 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out.” She led her team in implementing COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Likewise, she assisted students off-campus, offering to clear up their fridges and mailing them their important documents. Later, as situations improved, Wu fully prepared her team according to Covid-19 regulations to welcome students back on campus. “The rehearsals seemed endless.” recalled Wu, “We had 60… no, more than 70 rehearsals in total. But it was worth it; we were so relieved when every student could come back safe.”There is another side to Wu. She is a writer — she has published several academic essays online. “I believe that learning is a continuous process in life. Everyone should strive to learn the topics that fascinate them,” says Wu, pointing to a few certificates on her office’s wall. The certificates were from some of the courses she had taken on mental counseling, economics, among other topics. Wu tries to implement her learning to cater to students’ needs. Since 2019, she has hosted classes such as clay sculpting and graphic art in the community, enabling students to have some fun amidst their study schedules.Recently, Wu was chosen as one of the role model staff members for her devotion to work. We praise her efforts and we hope that her spirit can inspire generations of students in the years to come.
Counting the steps of Tsinghua to the world
Marvelous Colors, Manifold Forms: Find the beauty in glass art
Yao Rui: Exploring the Universe with the “Sky Eye“
TsinghuaRen｜Happy May Day!
Writers: Leung Cedric, Liu Han, Chen yuxin
Editors: Sangeet Sangroula, Liu Shutian
Designer: Xia Yifei