One university, two campuses, separated by a not-so-short stretch of road.
Since the semester began, 'what does the other campus actually look like' has probably been one of the most-asked questions among freshmen. Some said you can see the sea over there; some said the teaching buildings look like something out of a sci-fi film; and others said — 'well, I've never been.' Rather than guess, they went to see for themselves. Freshmen from the Daheishi and Qidingshan campuses arranged a 'swapped itinerary': Daheishi's freshmen stepped into Qidingshan, and Qidingshan's freshmen set out for Daheishi. One headed for the 'wisdom valley,' the other for the seaside — the same Maple Leaf, two entirely different landscapes.
A visit to Qidingshan | A new campus with a smart foundation
The freshmen from Daheishi Campus chose Qidingshan as their destination this time.
The Qidingshan Campus was officially opened in September 2024 and is located in Dalian Jinpu New Area. As a young campus, digitalization and intelligence are its most distinctive character — smart classrooms and an IoT sensing system are woven into daily teaching and campus operations. Walking onto the campus, what students felt first was not 'new' but 'smart.'
What truly sets the Qidingshan Campus apart is its layout of industry colleges. This is not just rows of teaching buildings, but a real industrial site moved onto campus. It currently hosts four industry colleges: the Future College of Smart Manufacturing, the School of Security & Emergency Management and Cryptology Industry College, the Digital Economy Industry College, and the iSoftStone Digital-Intelligent Industry College.
The training rooms are equipped with real devices, and the courses connect directly with enterprise needs. 'Here, there is almost no transition zone between learning and starting work' — this was the most repeated remark from the visiting students.
Tracing the roots | Daheishi Campus: where the Maple Leaf story began
The group heading the opposite direction went to Daheishi.
For the Qidingshan freshmen, this trip was like 'tracing the roots' — the present Daheishi Campus is where Maple Leaf started on its journey. Nestled in the Daheishi Tourism Resort in Yingchengzi Subdistrict, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, with green hills behind and the sea before it, it is a true garden-style seaside campus.
Walking through the campus, the first feeling is 'relaxed.' Daheishi is Maple Leaf's earliest campus; its trees and grass have grown for many years, and the corridors carry a familiar old scent. The one-stop service hall brings daily affairs, military enlistment, medical insurance reimbursement, campus network, and logistics services into a single window. As they toured, students sighed: 'this is just too worry-free.' Unsurprisingly, the most popular spot was the cafeteria — dozens of stalls covering all of China's regional cuisines; someone pulled out their phone the moment they walked in: 'next time I come, I must come on an empty stomach.' The library's gym, billiards room, parcel station, campus clinic, and apartment lounge areas are scattered around — every part of life has been given its place in advance.
Two trips, two campuses
Daheishi is like a steady elder brother — with green hills behind and the sea before, it has perfected the word 'life.' Qidingshan is like an ambitious youngster — 5G classrooms, industry parks, a smart foundation — it has written the word 'future' on its walls.
One bears witness to where we came from; one points to where we are going.
And perhaps the real gain of this mutual visit was not how many teaching buildings they saw, but this — when 'those two campuses' became 'our two campuses,' Maple Leaf finally, for the first time in the freshmen's hearts, came together as one complete university.
The road is not short, but it is worth the trip.
