In March 2013, on my way to Aachen by train after a flight, the moment the spires of the Cologne Cathedral pierced through the clouds and came into view, I knew this journey from Tsinghua to Aachen was destined to become a defining chapter in my life. As a member of the Tsinghua-RWTH Aachen University Double Degree Program, my year at RWTH Aachen was not merely an academic pursuit, but a profound encounter with culture, new perspectives, personal growth, and friendship. As the program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, those fragments of time scattered across the streets of Aachen are now piecing themselves together into a warm and profound tapestry of memories.
The small city of Aachen is like an open history book from the Middle Ages. Walking on its cobblestone streets, you can feel the wondrous fusion of Charlemagne's ancient legends and the whirring gears of industrial civilization. The university's buildings are scattered throughout the city—one moment you might be memorizing vocabulary in a café next to a Gothic building, and the next, stepping into a modern laboratory next door. This seamless "city as a campus" layout quickly dissolved the sense of detachment from the "ivory tower" for us Chinese newcomers. Bumping into German classmates carrying blueprints at the supermarket or overhearing professors discussing academic topics on the bus, this deep integration with the city not only awakened our sense of being part of society but also transformed cross-cultural communication from textbook theory into everyday life.
The classrooms in Aachen reshaped my understanding of learning. Professors there acted more as guides; homework was flexible, and free thinking was encouraged in class. However, the final exams were a genuine battle, and academic success depended entirely on self-motivation. The curriculum and internship projects were also deeply integrated with industrial practice. 2013 was the inaugural year of Germany's "Industry 4.0" concept, and my mini-thesis involved developing physical simulation software for automated robot assembly at the WZL. This approach of "identifying problems from industrial needs" made me realize that academia is not an "ivory tower," which is precisely the charm of RWTH Aachen's integration of industry, education, and research.
Our "small Tsinghua family" of 21 people created a warm home away from home. Although we lived in different corners of Aachen, we remained closely connected. On weekends, the aroma of hometown cuisine would fill the dorms: hotpot from our Sichuanese friends, dumplings from the Northeasterners, and nourishing soups from the Cantonese, all comforting our homesick stomachs. Gathering for a game of "Legends of the Three Kingdoms" after dinner became the best remedy for nostalgia. We traveled across Europe together on a budget, pulled all-nighters studying for exams while cheering each other on, and celebrated Girls' Day on a lawn in the Aachen suburbs, bringing a Tsinghua tradition to a foreign land. Most unforgettable was the Chinese New Year Gala organized by Chinese students, where we wrote and directed a shadow play titled "An Aachen Survival Story." We portrayed our initial struggles with the language barrier and unfamiliar food, as well as the amusing journey of finding our life goals. The thunderous applause from the audience was like an anthem of youthful setbacks and growth, echoing for a long, long time.
It has been over a decade since I left Aachen. From an era when Chinese manufacturing was "big but not strong" in 2013, to today where "Made in China 2025" and "Germany's Industry 4.0" are advancing in parallel, my experience in Aachen has been like a mirror, reflecting the shared growth of both an individual and an era. I have dreamt countless times of returning to that idyllic period. I am grateful to the Tsinghua-RWTH Aachen University Double Degree Program for this journey across mountains and seas, which allowed us, in the prime of our youth, to feel the pulse of industrial civilization and to gain cherished memories that will resonate for a lifetime.
By Huang Ziling (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2015)
