Former Site of Work-Study Program in France

Former Site of the Work-Study Program in France

The Former Site of the Work-Study Program in France is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Former Site of the Work-Study Program in France is located on the campus of today’s Changxindian Railway Middle School. It currently serves as a Beijing Patriotic Education Base for Youth and was designated as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit in 1984.

It is a two-story French-style building with a construction area of 251 square meters, originally constructed as a residence for Guo Changtai, head of the locomotive department at the Beijing-Hankou Railway Bureau. After its completion in the summer of 1918, Cai Yuanpei and Li Shizeng from the Sino-French Educational Association negotiated to repurpose it as classrooms for the preparatory class of the Work-Study Program in France. This preparatory class, also known as the Changxindian Industrial Department of the Advanced French Language Specialized School, was divided into three sections: foundry, mechanical engineering, and fitter training. Students from across the country practiced a work-study system, learning French while acquiring production skills. Wu Yuzhang, a renowned Chinese educator and one of the key founders of the Work-Study Movement in France, studied French here while interning at the original Changxindian train workshop. During the program's operation, Mao Zedong, who was then leading the Work-Study Movement in Hunan, visited twice to check on the Hunanese students.

In April 2001, the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics invested 280,000 yuan in its restoration, which mainly included the repair and repainting of the main structure, surrounding area improvement, and courtyard renovation. After the restoration, a “Work-Study Program in France Exhibition” was newly created at the site, using a large number of photos and texts to showcase this arduous chapter of our Party’s history, playing a positive role in promoting historical memory and educating future generations. Historical exhibits reveal that within two years prior to the end of 1920, nearly 2,000 Chinese students traveled across the ocean to study in France. Revolutionary veterans such as - , Cai Hesen, - , Chen Yi, Wang Ruofei, Liu Bojian, Xiang Jingyu, Li Fuchun, and Nie Rongzhen, along with other Chinese students in France, have their former presence and precious historical materials revived at the Changxindian Former Site of the Work-Study Program in France.

[Location] No. 18 Deshanli, Changxindian

[Transportation] Bus routes 917, 964