Hangzhou Foreign Languages School

The former Hangzhou Foreign Language School Library

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (HFLS), Chinese: 杭州外国语学校, colloquially referred to as 杭外, or Hangwai), is a grade 7-12 public high school located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China. Founded in 1964, HFLS is one of the country's first eight foreign language schools. Stipulated by the Ministry of Education, 20% of the students from each graduating class are exempted from the National Higher Education Entrance Examination and directly admitted into top Chinese universities.

History

In 1963, a shortage of qualified recruits for diplomatic service led the new Chinese government in Beijing to adopt new policies aimed at producing an institutional recruitment pool of talented students proficient in foreign languages through primary and secondary education. Hangzhou Foreign Languages School was thus established, together with seven other equivalent foreign language schools in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Changchun, Nanjing, Xi'an, Chongqing and Wuhan.

In 1964, the middle school division of the HFLS was located on the site of the Affiliated Middle School Attached to Hangzhou University, known today as Xuejun Middle School; whereas the primary school division was established, located on the campus of Zhejiang Infant Normal School. The latter half of the HFLS had to move around twice before 1966, when the two divisions of the HFLS merged into one single institution located on Zhejiang Infant Normal School's campus.

As Cultural Revolution began that same year, the HFLS stopped recruiting new students, and current students left the school after 1969, with students in primary school division being transferred to elementary schools nearby and all HFLS's middle school students joining the "Down to the Countryside Movement." The HFLS faculty, with the exception of English teachers, were all told to leave.

1964, junior section of HW borrowed canteen of Hangzhou University, using them as classrooms.

The school was able to recover and rejuvenate institutionally after the Cultural Revolution ended, and became a grades 7-12 high school. In 1991, the HFLS moved into a new campus on Academy Road. In September 2003, the school moved again into its brand new suburban campus on Liuhe Road, and as a result was able to drastically expand the size of its student body.

In January 2016, the HFLS moved to new campus on Liuhe Road, that was right next to the old campus. (This campus is currently used)

In January 2016, the HFLS relocated for another time to a new, smaller campus further to the west on Liuhe Road, after decisions were made to downsize the school and revoke many of its privileges in recruitment and admission that had been instrumental to its erstwhile success.^[2]

Admission

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School had been the only school allowed to conduct entrance exams for elementary school graduates in Zhejiang Province. During the 1990s, elementary schools in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, were given a quota of one student for each class, normally the top student. Together with students recommended for their special talents in arts and music, around 1,000 students in the city sat the written exams of Mathematics and Chinese, after which around 100 students were qualified for second stage interviews and 80 students aged around 13 to 14 were finally admitted, forming 2 classes in entering grade 7.^[3]

Due to the pressure from other secondary schools, the entrance exams of Hangzhou Foreign Language School evolved towards the form of pure interviews after 2000. The candidates pool was extended to all elementary schools in Zhejiang Province while both the candidates quota and number of admissions expanded, recruiting 11 to 12 classes each year.

In 2009, the Department of Education of Zhejiang announced that the school will become an affiliate of the then newly established Zhejiang International Studies University, which caused the school to stop conducting entrance interviews. The decision of affiliation was later revoked in reaction to the dissatisfaction from students and faculty,^[2] but the school opted to have a lottery process in selecting students.

Cambridge A-Level Centre

Front Gate of the HFLS

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School was accredited in 2008 as an International Examination Centre by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). As a result, Dipont Education in collaboration with the HFLS administration established a new division within the school called Cambridge A-Level Centre (CAL), which serves a small number of students from grade 10 to grade 12. At the CAL Centre, IGCSE and British A-Level courses are offered with English as the primary language of instruction.

Since the class of 2017, HFLS students enrolled at the CAL Centre have been required to also finish the standard high school curriculum in Zhejiang Province, whose subjects include Chinese, arts and music, Chinese history, geography, political science, information technology and physical education.

The student government plays an important role student life at the CAL Centre. Its members organize events marking different Chinese and Western holiday alike, such as the New Year's Day, Christmas, and Halloween. They also oversee the operations of all the student clubs at the CAL Centre.

Alumni

• Xi Mingze (Daughter of Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping and folk singer Peng Liyuan)
• Cao Hong (Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President BBVA Bank New York)
• Chen Jian (politician) (Member of Ministry of Commerce, Assistant Minister)
• Di Jianhua (The model procuratorial cadre of Chinese procuratorial system)
• Fang Kun (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Asia Division)
• Gao Keming (Deputy Director of Zhejiang Broadcasting and TV Station )
• Shen Yan (Director of Chinese Style Divorce)
• Wei Haoben (Writer)
• Wu Xiaofeng (IMC)
• Xiao Wen (Economics Professor)
• Xu Guang (Attorney)
• Xu Mei (Board Chairman of Pacific International Trading Group)
• Xu Zonghua (Chinese Art Creative researcher)
• Zhang Anguo (Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Insurance)
• Zhang Jianmin (Director of the translation office of the ministry of foreign affairs)
• Zhang Suzhan (Dean of Zhejiang No.2 Hospital)
• Zhang Xukun (Professor of Zhejiang University and Ningbo University)
• Zhang Yan (Ambassador of Resident United Nations atomic energy agency.)
• Zhu Hui (IBM SWG)
• Zou Xiaoli (Member of Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Jiang Xiaofeng (war correspondent in Phoenix Television)
• Jiang Yaojia (Singer)
• Chen Lijie (Champion of International informatics competition in 2013)

Athletics

The athletic teams of Hangzhou Foreign Languages School has made a lot of achievements, including but not limited to:

• the 3rd in Hangzhou Cheerleading Contest in 2004 and 2017
• the 5th in Hangzhou High School Women's Soccer Contest in 2009, and the 4th in Men's Soccer Contest in 2012
• the 4th in Hangzhou High School Women's Volleyball Contest in 2012
• the 1st in Hangzhou Middle School Aerobics Contest from 2006 to 2014
• the 5th in Zhejiang Student Pingpong Contest(Hangzhou division) women's category

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hangzhou Foreign Language School.

• Nanjing Foreign Language School
• Shanghai Foreign Language School
• Official website of HFLS in Chinese
• Official website of HFLS in English
• HFLS alumni associations