128 Years Old! The Undisputed Best Jiaotong University in China

"Next stop: Jiaotong University."

In China's "Magic City," along the eastern coast, in the prime location of Xujiahui, with the familiar announcement ringing out, stepping off Line 10 or 11 of the subway, just a few steps away, you’ll arrive at one of China’s "top three among the top five" prestigious universities—

This century-old institution, having just celebrated its 128th birthday, excels in researching "Dongfeng Express" (missile technology) and exploring the depths of the ocean. With 57 academicians representing its global-caliber research prowess, its sprawling campus—so vast it makes your feet ache—"connects" the bustling Shanghai. Though named "Jiaotong" (traffic/transportation) University, it redefines the infinite possibilities of this everyday term—"Heaven and Earth intersect, and all things connect!"

The first artificial satellite, the first nuclear submarine...

How has SJTU influenced all of China?

Tracing its origins back to 1896, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a prestigious science and engineering institution with a history even two years older than Peking University.

If there’s a microcosm of SJTU’s impact on China, it’s the numerous "check-in spots" across its campuses named after academicians—

Looking back over its century-long history, more than 200 alumni have become members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Behind these academicians lies SJTU’s cutting-edge research capabilities, leading China and the world, securing countless "firsts" in modern Chinese history and fueling the "rise of a great nation."

Beyond academia, in the modern enterprises that profoundly reshape people’s daily lives—food, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment—you’ll also find many SJTU alumni.

As the saying goes—Zhang Xuhao, frustrated by SJTU’s cafeteria food and the hassle of leaving campus, founded "Ele.me." Cai Haoyu, bored by SJTU’s lack of nightlife and overabundance of overachievers, co-founded miHoYo, launching the "Genshin Impact" phenomenon. Ji Qi and Shen Nanpeng, tired of rushing back to campus after trips downtown, founded Huazhu Group, Ctrip, and Home Inns. Zeng Yuqun, annoyed by frequent campus power outages, founded CATL...

Though these are anecdotes, they reflect how SJTU alumni embody the true meaning of "Jiaotong"—connecting all things to the times.

For Chinese university students, "SJTU" carries even deeper influence—for instance, in 1987, the Ministry of Education established the "College English Test (CET-4/6) Office" at SJTU. Today, over 20 million people take these exams annually. In 2003, SJTU’s Graduate School of Education released the first comprehensive global university ranking, a "who’s who" of world academia, making universities worldwide bow to its authority.

Returning to SJTU itself, as the flagship of China’s transportation-focused universities, its century-old evolution mirrors China’s tumultuous yet passionate history.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University holds the universe of China’s "Jiaotong" universities!

China’s five top transportation universities, located in Shanghai, Xi’an, Beijing, Chengdu, and Hsinchu, though separated by vast distances, all share similarly styled "Drinking Water, Remember the Source" monuments. SJTU and Xi’an Jiaotong University even share the same birthday. The legend of these "Jiaotong Universities" begins with the earliest one.

In 1896, Sheng Xuanhuai, driven by industrial patriotism, founded "Nanyang Public School" in Shanghai’s Xujiahui. Soon after, two more modern schools—Tangshan Railway College and Beijing Railway Management Institute—were established in Shanhaiguan (later moved to Tangshan) and Beijing.

By the East China Sea, the Sanggan River, and Shanhaiguan, these three schools—focusing on ships, railways, and telegraphy—represented the three modes of "transportation" in the public eye. Thus, in 1921, Ye Gongchuo, Minister of Transportation under the Beiyang government, merged them into "Jiaotong University," with its anniversary set on April 8, symbolizing "accessibility in all directions."

This move created what would become China’s largest and most extensive university system. Today’s SJTU Xuhui Campus, near downtown Xujiahui, stands where Sheng Xuanhuai founded Nanyang Public School in 1896—the legendary birthplace of China’s many Jiaotong universities, their "ancestral hall."

Walking through Xuhui Campus, you’ll see Renaissance-style Middle and Old Upper Buildings, Baroque-style Old Library, Art Deco Engineering Hall, and eclectic-classical Gymnasium and Administration Building—these Western-style structures, keeping pace with global trends, reflect SJTU’s founding ambition to "rival top Western universities."

How "hardcore" are SJTU students? The most famous example is the May 1947 "Campus Defense Movement," when Shanghai, Tangshan, and Beiping campuses protested the Kuomintang’s stripping of the "Jiaotong University" name. Led by civil engineering student Zhang Gongwei, students assembled a locomotive and cars into a full train—the "Long Live Jiaotong"—driven by mechanical engineering peers from Shanghai to Nanjing. When Shanghai’s military police tore up tracks ahead, civil engineering students dismantled rear tracks to lay them forward, keeping the train rolling...

Subsequently, the appeal of Jiao Tong University students to protect their school was fulfilled. Student leader Zhang Gongwei was wanted by the Kuomintang authorities but, under the掩护 of Jiang Zemin from the Electrical Engineering Department, was transferred to the liberated areas and renamed Yu Li, later becoming a renowned coal expert in New China.

Such legends of SJTU students truly embody the university's motto of "Seeking Truth and Practicing Pragmatism" to the fullest.

After the founding of New China, the three branches in Shanghai, Tangshan, and Beiping disbanded again, yet all retained the name "Jiao Tong University." During the 1952 academic restructuring, the Shanghai branch transformed into a purely engineering institution and began planning its relocation to Xi'an to support the development of the Northwest. In the summer of 1956, thousands of students, faculty, and their families boarded special trains bound for Xi'an. These trains seemed to traverse millennia, bringing the ancient capital the boundless potential of "studying science and engineering in Chang'an," while the "Spirit of Western Relocation" forged an inseparable bond between SJTU and Xi'an Jiao Tong University.

In July 1959, the Shanghai branch of Jiao Tong University officially adopted the name "Shanghai Jiao Tong University." Over the following decades, SJTU successively restored and established disciplines in science, management, life sciences, law, and humanities. With the merger of Shanghai Second Medical University into SJTU in 2005, the university finally completed its puzzle as a comprehensive institution.

Led by SJTU, the various "Jiao Tong" universities have advanced rapidly in the new era. With the three origins in Shanghai, Tangshan, and Beiping, they have expanded into five major branches across Shanghai, Xi'an, Beijing, Chengdu, and Hsinchu—akin to the "Three Sacred Mountains and Five Great Peaks." The five "Drinking Water, Remember the Source" monuments symbolize a century-spanning legacy of patriotism.

Jiao Tong University? No, it's the "Foot Pain" University!

Although the Xuhui Campus near Jiao Tong University Station represents over a century of SJTU's history, most students perceive it as being 20 kilometers away from the母校 they know. The heart of SJTU remains the distant southern Minhang Campus, nicknamed "The Minhang Wasteland" and "Dongchuan Road Men's Vocational Technical College" (with a male-to-female ratio of 7:1 in the early 2000s, now about 2:1).

Spanning 5,000 acres—4.5 times the size of the Forbidden City—the Minhang Campus once held the title of the largest single-campus area in China. Its vast expanse also earned SJTU the moniker "Foot Pain University." Students frequently traversing the campus resorted to bicycles, turning the Minhang Campus into a kingdom of bicycles.

Between classes, tens of thousands of bicycles weave through the roads and jolt over speed bumps; during lectures, they form labyrinthine layers around the six main teaching buildings. The names of these buildings are unforgettable—Upper, Middle, Lower, East Upper, East Middle, and East Lower—reflecting SJTU's rigorous engineering ethos.

The East Gate features classical Chinese architecture, elegantly named the "Purple Air from the East Gate" but colloquially called the "Temple Gate." The Southeast Gate adopts Western classical design, dubbed the "Triumphal Arch." The Southwest Gate, with its modern拖鞋-like shape, is known as the "Flip-Flop Gate" and is the most frequently used by students due to its proximity to residential areas. Meanwhile, the North Gates—North 1, North 2, and North 3—await their official names.

This "Bicycle Kingdom" appears unified but is bisected by the Hujin Expressway, leaving only four underpasses connecting the eastern and western sections. Late last year, renovations to these underpasses led to the campus being humorously dubbed "Concave and Convex Zones." Such交通 projects are frequent, prompting students to quip, "Jiao Tong University is always working on交通."

Despite the inconvenience, SJTU has one of the earliest end times for evening classes among Chinese universities, with most ending at 20:20 (only a few lab classes run later). Many professors even condense breaks to finish by 20:00. Of course, students don’t indulge in the "nonexistent nightlife of Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai" but instead bury themselves in the library until closing.

Yet, life in the "Minhang Wasteland" has its unique charms. After April’s cherry blossoms, students "smell the osmanthus with a tiger’s heart," join the "Hundred Clubs Battle" at East Square, grind homework at the New Library until closing, jog at South Stadium, or gather under the Flip-Flop Gate for meals—these are the memories of SJTU life.

The most iconic symbol of SJTU life, however, is an age-old student sport: rowing.

Water can carry boats—and host races. As an "Upstream 985" university along the Huangpu River, SJTU naturally boasts its own rowing team. Founded in 2001, the team has won numerous domestic and international championships, holding its own against powerhouses like Oxford and Cambridge. After all, naval architecture is SJTU’s cornerstone—students don’t just build ships; they sail and even repair them. The mandatory metalworking实习 once extended even to business majors.

A single boat traces back to SJTU’s origins. A century ago, the university led the era with railways, steamships, and telegraphy—the "traffic" of its time. Today, SJTU pioneers connections across space, time, and the virtual-real divide. While the meaning of "Jiao Tong" evolves, its students remain steadfast to the vision of an alumnus: "Think Deeply, Aim High," achieving the ideal of "Heaven-Earth Interaction and Universal Connectivity."

Shanghai Jiao Tong University SJTUPA Photography Association

President of SJTUPA Photography Association | Zhang Yang