From Nov. 4 to 10, 2018, the delegation from School of Mathematical Sciences at ZJU, led by Prof. XU Xiang (assistant to the dean) and Ms. WANG Fengyi (secretary of international affairs), visited The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

At the first stop, the delegation came to CUHK and was warmly received by the Department of Mathematics. At the welcome ceremony, Prof. ZOU Jun, head of the Department of Mathematics, introduced the teacher-student structure, faculty, research direction and postgraduate enrollment of Department of Mathematics, CUHK. We have learned that although the Mathematics Department of the CUHK is small, its strength cannot be underestimated. There are many teachers who are editors of important international or domestic mathematics magazines, and have in-depth research in geometry, analysis, partial differentiation, and applied mathematics. In addition, Prof. ZOU briefed us on the direction of his research—the problem of back-scattering, and highlighted the important achievements made by his graduate students, in order to encourage ZJUers to keep making progress and achieve certain results. Prof. ZOU also introduced the Hong Kong Doctoral Scholarship Program, affirmed the academic level of the students of ZJU, and invited students who are interested in applying to CUHK to participate actively and prepare for the application as soon as possible. Then, Prof. Ronald Lu brought a special report on medical imaging applications, Prof. Eric Chung introduced the details of the course arrangement in the following week. Finally, on behalf of the exchange group, Prof. XU Xiang presented a beautiful souvenir to the Department of Mathematics of CUHK to convey the meaning of friendly exchanges and mutual exchanges.

After the welcome ceremony, the students were full of expectations and entered the mathematics classroom of CUHK. Based on their own learning, everyone chose to listen to Prof. De-Jun Feng, Prof. Eric Chung, Prof. Tie Yong Zeng, Prof. Ronald Lu, Prof. Lu Fai Tam, Prof. Po Lam Yung on probability theory, mathematical modeling, data analysis, mathematical imaging, differential geometry, complex analysis courses. During the course of the lecture, what is most deeply felt is that in the classroom of CUHK, teacher often asks questions to the students and induces the students to think about the correct answers on their own. This is a very novel experience for the students who are used to take classes with a large number of students. In addition, the students learned that there are relatively few requirements for the required courses in the Mathematics Department of CUHK, and they can choose courses according to their own plans for the future.

The Department of Statistics of CUHK also arranged a briefing for the exchange group. In the briefing session, Prof. SONG Xinyuan, head of the Department of Statistics, introduced the faculty level, main research directions and relevant precautions of the application for the graduate students of CUHK. In the next few days, Department of Statistics specially invited the delegation to participate in the special report of Dr. Ke Zhu from HKU and Prof. Maecel Nusz from Columbia University. The contents of the report were in line with the international standards, and the students felt the charm of statistics.

The delegation also went to the Department of Mathematics of the HKUST for an exchange visit. Entering the office, the decorative design of the contrast color and geometric pattern first brought everyone a huge visual impact, the delegation was impressed by the charm of mathematics. Prof. WANG Yuping, head of the Department of Mathematics, HKUST and other representative teachers gave a detailed introduction to the major research directions of the HKUST and the postgraduate enrollment projects. After further communication, Prof. XU Xiang, on behalf of the School of Mathematical Sciences, ZJU, initially reached a student exchange and cooperation intention with the Department of Mathematics, HKUST, laying the foundation for the friendly cooperation between the two universities in the future.

On the afternoon of Nov. 9, after listening to the final report of the Department of Statistics of CUHK, the one-week exchange event came to a successful end. In this short week, the delegation had a certain understanding of the relevant circumstances of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics of the CUHK and the Department of Mathematics of HKUST. They experienced their teaching methods and felt the densely academic atmosphere there. At the same time, everyone has further thoughts and plans for their future academic development. This trip to Hong Kong has benefited every student in the delegation. We are looking forward to more students in the future exchanges. A rewarding experience in learning!