AIEF American International Education Foundation

Prior to the Fair, AIEF arranged for participating school representatives to visit the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang on July 8^th. Led by Dr. Patrick Fong, Executive Director of AIEF, the group was warmly received at the Consulate by Ms. Ruth Dowe of the Visa Section and Mr. Justin Walls of Press and Cultural Affairs as well as two of their Chinese assistants. At the visit, Ms. Dowe explained the Non-immigrant Visa application procedures and noted that there has been a 40% increase of visa applications in China since 2009. She noted that over 120,000 Chinese students went to the U.S. for education in 2010. Ms. Dowe further noted that the 2010 visa approval rate exceeded 80% for graduate students and over 70% for undergraduate students at the Shenyang Consulate.

Mr. Walls addressed the environmental and cultural issues in Shenyang. He also pointed out that Chinese students are computer savvy. Since a popular information resource for Chinese students is a China-only blog, Mr. Walls encouraged American schools to provide him with articles that would appeal to Chinese students which he could then post directly on this widely-read social networking portal. He noted the blog could be a valuable tool for American schools to recruit Chinese students.

The 2011 Liaoning International Education Exhibition was organized by the Education Department of Liaoning Province. It was held in three major cities of Liaoning Province from July 9^th through July 17^th. The Fair started in Liaoning’s capitol city, Shenyang, on July 9^th and 10th. The fair moved to Anshan City on July 13^th, and followed by Dalian on July 16^th and 17^th.

Prominently located near the main entrance to the Fair venue, the American Pavilion was decorated with a red, white and blue motif. The American Pavilion, organized and coordinated by AIEF, was reserved exclusively for authorized U.S. school representatives. At the entryway to the American Pavilion, AIEF staff at the AIEF booth offered free counseling and directed student traffic to visit the booths in the American Pavilion.

As a complimentary service provided to American Education Pavilion exhibitors, AIEF arranged for interpreters from local Chinese colleges and universities to translate for the representatives in each booth of the American Pavilion at Shenyang and Dalian venues.


Interpreters at Shenyang Fair		Interpreters at Dalian Fair

Shenyang Fair – The two-day fair in Shenyang was held in the Science Centrum Exhibition Center. Schools from 18 different countries participated in the exhibition which attracted over 1,800 visitors to the venue. The Director of Department of Education of Liaoning Province, Ms. Wang Yan Ling, paid a special visit to the American Education Pavilion and had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Patrick Fong of AIEF, Dr. Albert Nylander of Mississippi Consortium, and Dr. Brad Van Den Elzen of University of Wisconsin at Steven Point. Director Wang expressed her appreciation of the presence of American colleges and universities in Liaoning Province and invited American representatives to a dinner reception for more in-depth conversation with her staff. During the Shenyang Fair, six presentation sessions were given covering topics including: admissions to American universities, applying to art and design schools, health insurance in the US, and information about the Mississippi Consortium.


Shenyang Fair		Seminar at Shenyang Fair

Anshan Fair – The one-day Anshan Fair was held in the Anshan Wuhuan Grand Hotel on Wednesday. Schools from 14 different countries participated in the Fair. Owing to the fact that the fair was scheduled on a school examination day, the turn out at the venue was extremely low. Consequently, the Anshan Fair was terminated two hours early at 6 PM.

Dalian Fair – The two-day Dalian Fair was held at the Dalian Xinghai Exhibition Center. Schools from 16 countries participated in this event which attracted over 3,000 visitors. Six presentation sessions were given during the Dalian Fair covering topics including: admissions to American universities, applying to art and design schools, health insurance in the US, and information about the Mississippi Consortium.


Dalian Fair		Seminar at Dalian Fair

Free copies of the new UScampus Guide were distributed to Fair visitors at each fair city. Published by AIEF, this semiannual magazine offers accurate and up-to-date information to international students interested in studying in the United States.

Complimentary copies of the magazine are also distributed at all of AIEF’s American Education Fairs in Asia, as well as at student advising centers, and public libraries in the region. If you are interested in submitting an article or placing an advertisement in UScampus Guide, please e-mail info@aief-usa.org.

Pre-Fair online registration was offered to students to receive free counseling at the fair venue. In addition, at each fair venue, visitors to the American Pavilion were encouraged to submit their educational goals and contact details in AIEF’s student tracking system. All registered student data has been verified, entered into the AIEF computer database and sent to each school that participated in the American Pavilion.

On July 9^th, all American Pavilion representatives were invited to a dinner reception by Mr. Liu Tong, Director of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Education Department of Liaoning Province. The reception was held in a beautiful banquet room close to Sheraton Lido Hotel where over 30 courses of famous Liaoning cuisine were served. At the reception, Mr. Liu gave a warm welcome speech to the participating American representatives. He also updated the current development of the educational system in Liaoning. He pointed out there are 112 universities, 49 colleges, and 2,189 middle schools in Liaoning Province. He also noted that Liaoning is among the provinces sending the largest number of Chinese students to the United States, at over 120,000 students per year. He encourages educational exchanges between the two countries and welcomes American school representatives to re-visit Liaoning. His office would be happy to offer assistance to American schools whenever needed.

After the Shenyang Fair, a school visit was made on July 11 to Shenyang Jianzhu University. A comprehensive public university with undergraduate and graduate programs, the Jianzhu University has 15 schools and about 16,000 enrolled students. The university’s Civil Engineering and Architectural Engineering schools are ranked among the top 5 in China. Dr. Shi Tie Mao, Vice President and Mr. Song, Director of International Exchange and Cooperation Department hosted a lunch for the American Education Pavilion representatives at the university’s faculty dining hall.

After the Anshan Fair, the organizer of the 2011 Liaoning International Education Exhibition offered a complimentary cultural tour to fair participants on July 14^th. The tour included a cultural visit to the Jade Buddha Temple in the morning, a complimentary lunch at a downtown Anshan restaurant, and a visit to the Chiensan Mountain in the afternoon.

Based upon input received from participating schools, visiting students and parents, corrections and improvements will be made to the future AIEF fairs in China with the support of the Department of Education of Liaoning Province, as follows:

The schedule for AIEF’s 2011 Fall American Education Fairs in Asia is as follows:

Fall Fairs:
September 17-18: Seoul
September 20: Busan
September 24-25: Taipei
September 26: Kaohsiung
September 27: Taichung
September 29: Singapore

Online registration for AIEF’s 2011 Fall Fairs is currently available at:
http://www.aief-usa.org/services/signup_fair.htm. For more information, please visit our Website or call the AIEF’s California office at 714-985-1995.