No.1 Senior High School of Ürümqi

The institutional predecessor, known as Bo Da Academy of Sinkiang (simplified Chinese: 新疆博达书院/博大书院; traditional Chinese: 新疆博達書院/博大書院)(lit. Sinkiang Academy of Erudition), was founded on August 14, 1891 by the then Qing Dynasty, when it was 20 years before the establishment of the Republic of China.

Xin Gui Ruo Gui (心规若晷) sundial presented by the 1981 graduates

In the early ROC period, many well-educated Chinese intellectuals and political figures, converged on the school to pursue their studies in Xinjiang. The former school president Yu Xiusong (Chinese: 俞秀松) (in office in 1936), came around and taught in the school as the then leader of the CPC Shanghai Leading Group and one of the founding members of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC). In 1938, Li Yunyang (Chinese: 李云扬), one of the CPC members dispatched by the Central Politburo, became president of the school. Other major figures, such as the revolutionary martyr Lin Jilu, along with Shen Yanbing (writer), Zhao Dan (artist), have lectured in the school. These people who had intensive revolutionary backgrounds affected the students deeply in their minds, bringing in Marxist ideology. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, some of them also contrived to enlighten the students and the young generation and propagandized ideological guidance in an effort to help the country. Their efforts contributed to the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang and created a hopeful atmosphere among the youths.

By 1953, the State Education Commission labelled the school as the sole key middle school in Xinjiang. However, the Cultural Revolution inflicted heavy losses upon it; almost all stored books in its library totaling approximately 40,000 were rifled during that time. With the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE, or CEE) in the late 1970s right after the Cultural Revolution, the school had been achieving progressive success in CEE results of the students. In 1982, it was labelled once more in the first list of the country's best-run key schools. Since 1995, the school has permanently ranked at the top places by CEE evaluation. Through the public assessment, it was chosen as a city-level unit of spiritual civilization in the year 1995, and sequentially as the autonomous region-level one in the end of the same year. Over the nearest past four years, the school's rate of matriculation (ROM) to college reached over 99% steadily. The high school consolidated its top rank in Xinjiang high schools exposed by the CEE result.

The New Campus

In 2004, a civil North School of the No. 1 Senior High School of Urumqi (乌鲁木齐市第一中学北校) was founded by the school authorities and their collaborative company known as Xinjiang Jun Fa Industrial & Investment Co. Ltd (新疆俊发实业投资有限责任公司).[5]

Starting from August, 2017, the school begin using the new campus located in the Xi'er Street(西二巷) of Kanasihubei Road(喀纳斯湖北路).[4]

Urumqi No. 1 High School buildings on campus

*The school is currently composed of the Teaching Building (Yifu Building) (逸夫教学楼), Gymnastics-Art Integrated Building (体育艺术综合楼) and the Science Building (科学馆). General programming construction was completed in 2002, and at the same time the school systematically revamped the teaching equipment, experimental apparatus and basic facilities. The GA Integrated Building was built in 2005. It has 34 so-called Special Classrooms, including Telecasting Room, Learning Room, Room of Celestial Phenomena and Computer Rooms. School buildings also contain auditoriums, a studio and Chamber for Academic Report (学术报告厅) used for conferences. In addition, there is a plastic field underground and overground (for basketball and track and field), a basketball gymnasium and rooms for fine arts and music education.

Teaching building seen from front-gate

Panorama of school playground in 2007

The school administration had been highly concerned about the audiovisual means conducive to multimedia education. In 2007, the school leadership invited tenders. Eventually, it chose Anliang Technology Co., Ltd (安良科技公司) for the operation of the multimedia installment around every corner in the school.[6] All the classrooms were fit with computer systems and projectors. The computers are embedded in the platform desks and are linked to the entire school's networks. Bidirectional closed-circuit television (CCTV) system is available. As every classroom is accessible to Internet, it has proved to be very convenient when such demand exists during some classes.[7] The school has operated its own campus website since 2005, on which it can release campus news and issue circulars to the public.

The Science Building (sometimes referred to as the Experiment Building), built in 1989, is the oldest existing building still in use at present. It contains the school library, laboratories, the biological specimen room and computer rooms. From July to August 2007, the Science Building was extensively renovated, with a budget of 1,760,000 yuan.[6] With a variety of experimental instruments in the Science Building, the school is capable of fulfilling all required experimental curricula in physics, chemistry and biology. It has procured many latest and advanced instruments, such as new-styled microscopes, EMD timers, and multitesters.

The new Dining Hall has three floors, capable of serving 3,000 people at the same time.

In 2017, the school moved to the Green-Valley Campus(绿谷校区). With an investment of more than 551 million yuan, the new campus covers an area of 14.5547 hectares and contains two Teaching Buildings, two Science Buildings(with three floors of Library), one Office Building, one Art Building, one Astronomy-Music Integrated Building, one Stadium, three Dormitory Buildings, one Standard Soccer Field, and one Dining Hall Building.[4]

Library

Science Building before renovation, September 2006

The school library is set in the Science Building and has over 90,000 books in store, offering thousands of magazines and newspapers in nearly 520 kinds. The former school library was the oldest high school library in Xinjiang. According to the school chronicles, the library had 5,641 books in 1931, making one of the most famous in the province (Xinjiang was formerly a province during ROC period). In 1966, the number of stored books turned 40,000; however, the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) made an end to it, all its stored books having been looted.

Computer-installed platform desk

In the late 1970s, the library was reestablished and underwent massive development during the 1980s. The present school library was built in 1989. The library currently occupies 802.12 m² in area, with 195 seats in the reading room, available for 2 classes at the same time.[8] It provides Senior 3 students with a room for individual study (自习室). Three librarians are in charge of the library.

The General Library Integrated System was adopted and put into service in September 2004.[8] The library opens to all students during school time, and periodically, different classes commence their reading lessons in the library's reading room. Every student in the school has been given a bar-coded card for borrowing books, able to be recognized by computer. The school authorities spent 80,000 yuan annually for the library on the purchase of approximately 2,000 books, 60 kinds of newspapers and copies of magazines in 500 kinds.

A classroom

In order to lighten the burden on students in daily maintenance and to enhance security of the whole campus, the school employed a group of cleaners as well as security guards from Xinjiang Baihuacun Estate Management Company Limited (新疆百花村物业有限公司) in 2004, making it one of the few schools with such high campus life standards. The act is believed to reduce the labor intensity of students, whose de facto sanitary work is thus limited within the classrooms. School cleaners are responsible for the whole school except internal classrooms (public classrooms and auditoria excluded).

Inside the New Campus

The administrative group (行政组) of the No. 1 Senior High School of Urumqi is divided into General Office (办公室), Pedagogy Office (教学处), Teaching and Research Office (教研处), Student Office (学生处), General Affairs Office (总务处) and Financial Office (财务室). Each office is normally in the charge of a director (主任) and a vice-director (副主任). The offices are mainly located in the Teaching Building and the Gymnastics-Art Integrated Building.

Principal Luo Qunyan (罗群雁) Vice-PrincipalYan Jingxia (闫锦霞)
Gao Yueqing (高月清) CPC General Branch Secretary Gao Ximei (高喜梅)

Gao Xing, physics teacher and notable astronomy amateur

The No. 1 Senior High School, with a group of high-qualified teachers, teaches to cultivate all-around students. The school has 8 (de facto 4 at present) special-class teachers (特级教师) and 77 high-class teachers (高级教师). Many of them give lessons and coach students in curricula for the College Entrance Exams and for the national academic contests. The school has already raised the standard of employment, employing personnel with master's degrees or higher qualifications. English teachers are routinely sent abroad to attend further studies.

Averagely 20 theses by the school teachers are issued on the national publications, and their authors regularly win prizes every year. In addition, it is estimated that around 15 incumbent teachers are affiliated to different local academic associations, which are at the city level and the province level (autonomous region level). Some of these teachers undertake association assignments, or permanently assume office in the associations, such as Urumqi Chemistry Society (乌鲁木齐市化学学会), Xinjiang Physics Society (新疆物理学会), and Xinjiang Education Association (新疆教育学会).

Teaching and Research Groups

• The Chinese Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Chinese teachers in all three grades
• The Mathematics Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Mathematics teachers in all three grades, some of whom are also coaches of Mathematics contests
• The English Teaching and Research Group: consisting of English teachers in all three grades
• The Physics Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Physics teachers in Senior Grade 1 and Natural-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 2 and 3, some of whom are also coaches of Physics contests
• The Chemistry Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Chemistry teachers in Senior Grade 1 and Natural-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 2 and 3, some of whom are also coaches of Chemistry contests
• The Biology Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Biology teachers in Senior Grade 2 and Natural-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 3, some of whom are also coaches of Biology contests
• The Politics Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Politics teachers in Senior Grade 1, 2 and Social-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 3
• The History Teaching and Research Group: consisting of History teachers in Senior Grade 1 and Social-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 2 and 3
• The Geography Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Geography teachers in Senior Grade 1 and Social-Sciences classes of Senior Grade 2 and 3
• The Physical Education, Music & Fine Arts Teaching and Research Group: consisting of PE teachers in all three grades, Music teachers in Senior Grade 1 and Fine arts teachers in Senior Grade 2
• The Information Technology Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Information technology teachers in Senior Grade 1 and General technology teachers in Senior Grade 2, some of whom are also coaches of Informatics contests
• The Mental Health Teaching and Research Group: consisting of Mental health teachers in Senior Grade 1 and 2

Class Teachers

Senior Grade 1:

• normal classes: Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, Politics, History or Geography teacher
• Natural-Scientific Strong-point Classes: Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics or Chemistry teacher

Senior Grade 2 and 3:

• Social-Sciences classes (including Social-Scientific Strong-point Classes): Chinese, Mathematics, English, Politics, History or Geography teacher
• Natural-Sciences classes (including Natural-Scientific Strong-point Classes): Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry or Biology teacher

Students' silence tribute for deaths in Wenchuan earthquake, May 19, 2008

The school mainly enrolls junior middle school graduates of junior high schools in Urumqi, and a few excellent students from the other parts in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The top students who passed its self-standardized difficult natural-science-oriented tests (including Chinese, mathematics, English, physics and Chemistry) will form several Natural-Scientific Strong-point Classes (理科特长班).[9] At the end of Senior Grade 1, students who choose Social Sciences will have social-science-oriented tests (including Politics, History and Geography). The top students will form the Social-Scientific Strong-point Classes (文科特长班).[10] Other students who are not adept at studies but have conspicuous abilities in athletics, basketball or fine arts can be also admissible if they pass the selective tests.

Statistics indicates that the school ranked 6th in 2006,[11] and 2nd in 2008 on a nationwide ranking list by number of the number-one scholars (Chinese: 状元; pinyin: zhuàngyuán) graduates in the College Entrance Examination (CEE) every year. As of 2008, it had totally developed 10 number-one scholar graduates.[12]

In 2007, 31 students of the 2007 graduates of the No. 1 Senior High School are set to be exempted from standardized exams (保送), or to be admitted 10 or 20 scores lower than the standard to different universities, 13 among whom passed the assessments conducted by the universities, known as the Independent Recruitment Tests (自主招生考试). In 2008, 53 students of the to-be-graduates acquired the same privileges.

The school provides three types of curricula: basic curricula, outreach curricula (electives) and practice curricula, though it is still a constitutionally CEE/contest-centered school similar to most other ordinary and key senior high schools in China. Coaching for contests (竞赛辅导) is commonly carried out in the Natural-Scientific Strong-point Classes (理科特长班), as these classes are specially set to major in the academic contests in the first two school years.

Electives

For contests (e.g., High School Academic Contests, Chinese: 高中学科竞赛)

Natural-Sciences contests:

• Mathematics
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Biology

other contests:

• Informatics
• Robotics
• Visual Basic (VB)
• Chinese
• English

For hobbies (titles of the groups)

A Peking Opera lecture during the Week of Culture on Campus, May 2008

• Chinese literature society (国学社)
• Astronomy group (天文小组)
• Fine Arts group
• Basketball team
• Track and field team
• Calisthenics team
• Photography club (摄影小组)
• Music group

Practice

• Community service
• Social practice
• Association activities
• Activities of technological innovations
• Creation of Class Culture (班级文化创建)

Growing-up ceremony

• Morning Gathering (晨会) is a plenary assembly held at 9:00 a.m. every Monday (during school terms) on the playground, lasting for near 20 minutes. The weekly on-duty class hosts the gathering, responsible for a flag-raising ceremony, a speech to the flag (国旗献词), sometimes a summary of the school's performance in terms of discipline for the past one week (上周值周总结), and more optional procedures, such as lectures by teachers on certain topics.
• Sports Day (运动会) is held every year, lasting for two or three days in late September or early October, including mostly track and field events. All students of three grades are bound to participate in the events. The 2005 Games were cancelled due to the 50th Anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The 2017 Games were also cancelled.
• Basketball Games are held annually in March and April, involving only Senior 1 and Senior 2 team members, since the Senior 3 students are busy with academic preparations for the CEE.
• Military training is an indispensable yearly drill for the newly recruited new grade (senior) 1 students, taking place in August before their first term in a local military base (barracks) or at school. All the students are required to live in the military base or at school during the military training.
• Poem recitation contest
• Callisthenic exercises contest (广播操比赛)
• Joint performance on New Year's Day (元旦汇演)
• Growing-up ceremony (成人仪式)

• Student Union (学生会), made up of students, is responsible for school affairs and activities. It is established through the yearly Student Congress (学生代表大会), and consists of Life Department, Study Department and Propaganda Department.
• Student's Union (December 2011-December 2012)
  • President of Student's Union: Zhang Rongrong (张容榕), vice president of Student's Union: Yin Ruizhe (尹锐哲) and Jiang Bowen (姜博文).
• CYLC committee (团委), made up of teachers and students, is established annually via CYLC Member Congress (团员代表大会).
• CYLC branches (团支部) are set in every class pertinent to the League members (mostly the students). Every class has an elected student as the secretary of the branch (团支部书记)
• Astronomy group (乌鲁木齐市第一中学天文小组 ) routinely recruits students with enthusiasms about astronomy or astrophotography. It has conducted large number of astronomical observations. The group is headed by Gao Xing (高兴), a physics teacher and astronomy amateur who discovered several celestial bodies.[14] This astronomy group is popular on the Internet, and plays an active part within the school. The current school's astronomy group, founded in 1998 (the initial one founded in the 1950s was intermitted by the Cultural Revolution),[15] was set to typically aim for observation activities for affiliated students (it was also once disbanded in 2002, but later reestablished), and has accomplished many astronomical observation programs.

ODA Japan

The Nissan Civilian with ODA logo

Though a public school, the No. 1 Senior High School has received plenty of endowments of mainly educational instruments and others. Sir Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫), a Hong Kong media mogul and philanthropist, donated a building (presently as the main building) in 2001.

It was also endowed with many teaching and experimental instruments, such as desks, chairs, microscopes, vernier calipers, and multitesters from the Official Development Assistance Japan. This was the sequence to the Japan's 3rd Program of Secondary Education Equipment for Minority Areas in the People's Republic of China (第三次少数民族地区中学教育器材装备计划) launched by ODA Japan in 1999; the No. 1 Senior High School was one of those to have been endowed, while the equipment was put into service in 2000.

• On April 22, 2003, the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University officially granted the No. 1 Senior High School of Urumqi the nominal brass plate, making it one of its students resources base schools.
• Hundreds of selected schoolgirls of both Senior 1 and 2 of the No. 1 Senior High School attended the performance on the 50th Anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on October 1, 2005.
• During the One hundred academicians’ (experts’) visits to one hundred schools (百名院士(专家)进百校 ) in August 2005, Chen Ning Yang, the 1957 Nobel Prize recipient, paid a visit to the No. 1 Senior High School of Urumqi,[16] along with several other CAS academicians who later lectured at the school.
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Northern Irish astrophysicist who discovered the first radio pulsar, lectured on Seeking the Universe and answered to the questions the students had asked.

The No. 1 Senior High School is base school that provide candidates for the following cooperative colleges or universities:

• Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University (清华大学美术学院)
• National University of Defense Technology (国防科技大学)
• Wuhan University (武汉大学)
• Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学)

• Osaka Prefectural Moriguchi Higashi High School (大阪府立守口東高等学校)
• Chengdu No.7 High School (成都市第七中学)
• High School attached to Tsinghua University (清华大学附属中学)
• Harbin No.3 Middle School (哈尔滨市第三中学)
• Private Nanshan Senior High School (simplified Chinese: 新北市私立南山高级中学; traditional Chinese: 新北市私立南山高級中學)

• Gao Xing
• Ürümqi

• 乌鲁木齐市中考招生指南 (Urumqi Municipal Bureau of Education)
• 乌鲁木齐市第一中学校史

• Official Website (in Chinese)
• 百度贴吧_乌鲁木齐一中吧 (in Chinese)
• 乌鲁木齐市第一中学天文小组论坛 (in Chinese)