Winners of Shackleton Award
In 2006, the National School of Development’s BiMBA entered the first inter-business school Gobi Challenge for Executive MBAs. This year, BiMBA re-entered the fray with its first team since 2006. On 25 May 2014, the BiMBA team completed the last 20km of the challenge. The smiling team approached the finish line, marking its triumphant return to the competition, in keeping with the spirit of the challenge: dream, action and perseverance.
For four arduous days, the BiMBA team dashed ahead with an indomitable spirit, overcoming black rainstorms, sandstorms and an unforgiving climate where temperatures dropped over 20 degrees from day to night. They achieved a great result and were given the Shackleton Award – awarded for the team with the best team spirit.
Establishing the “Peking University Langrun Scholarship” for Guazhou Primary School
The Gobi Challenge is a marathon test of endurance and speed. For almost all the contestants, the 25 May marked the finishing point, where the 9th Gobi Challenge drew to a close. This was not true for the NSD’s EMBA team.
Although they had completed the challenge and were tired beyond belief, they did not just put their feet up and rest, they moved onto the next stage of their journey more than 100km away: the Sha He primary school in Guazhou county.
Before the competition, team members and classmates from EMBA 2006 had agreed to follow in the path of Hsuan Tsang* and fully experience the spirit of the monk’s journey west: to help and relieve the world.
As a result, before the competition the NSD’s team had contacted Guazhou County and created two charity projects: one to provide the ‘Peking University Langrun Scholarship’ for an underprivileged primary school and the other to provide lectures for local cadres.
The ‘Peking University Langrun Scholarship’ was ultimately given to the Shahe Village Primary School, a school for migrant children. Ten years ago, the area was unpopulated. To develop the region and alleviate the issue of population density and poor quality of life in Gansu, a voluntary migration program was promulgated. To cater for the education needs of future generations, the government established the Central Primary School.
After a 3 hour journey, the BiMBA Gobi team and classmates from EMBA 2006 reached the Guazhou County Shahe Village Central Primary School, where over 400 students were eagerly awaiting. Gansu’s vice-governor Hao Yuan as well as officials from Jiuquan city and Guazhou County were in attendance for the ‘Peking University Langrun Scholarship’ donation ceremony.
Peking University National School of Development BiMBA’s Civic Spirit
During NSD Professor and BiMBA John Yang’s speech, EMBA students do not only learn business models and commercial knowledge but, more importantly, must learn how to contribute to the fair and equal development of society and the country. He hopes in future Gobi Challenges other business schools will learn from the NSD not only to compete on speed and endurance but also on contribution to society. Everybody should do their part in contributing to the economy and education system of underdeveloped regions. This is the spirit EMBA students and graduates should possess and is in fitting with Hsuan Tsang’s spirit of helping the world.
Gansu’s vice-governor Hao Yuan remembered the NSD’s contribution to the province’s poverty stricken areas: in 2005 the NSD made its first charity contribution; in 2008 BiMBA’s students donated RMB500, 000; this year is the third donation, Mr. Yuan said that if all of China’s business schools were this civically-minded, giving attention to the country’s poor whilst developing oneself, then our country would have great hope.
Although the competition is now over, the NSD’s Gobi Challenge team has not forgotten the children of Guazhou. The team is now planning to bring the children to Beijing and to experience the Peking University campus of their dreams.
Though Hsuan Tsang passed away a thousand years ago, his spirit still resonates within and without China’s business schools.
*Hsuan Tsang was a Buddhist monk who made a 16 year pilgrimage to India across the Gobi desert in the 7th century and after whom the Gobi Challenge is named.
