Old but not out, 'silver' professors share wisdom with Xinjiang

Challenges

For all their efforts and their students' appreciation, the professors admitted they have had challenges.

Fu Peishan, another retired professor from Nankai's School of Marxism, said that he found the students were "quite attentive at listening, but less at communicating".

As a result, he worried whether they truly understood the lectures and worked to improve the situation.

Since he is good at calligraphy, Fu collected 2,000 ginkgo leaves and wrote messages like "Beautiful Kashgar" on them to give to the students.

"I told them I would give one to everyone who raised their hands to ask a question or comment, and to my delight, I have gifted 800 to date," he said.