Lijiang Normal University | Chinese Universities

Lijiang Normal University is the only provincial public regular undergraduate institution approved by the Ministry of Education in the northwest of Yunnan Province.

The university originated from the Normal Simple Department of Lijiang Prefecture Middle School in 1906. In 1913, it was renamed as the Sixth Provincial Normal School. In 1942, the National Lijiang Normal School was established. In 1956, Lijiang Normal School was founded. In 1968, it was renamed as Lijiang Prefecture Normal School. In 1995, it was renamed as Lijiang Nationalities Normal School. In 1978, Lijiang Normal School Specialized Class was set up. In 1984, Lijiang Education College was established on the basis of Lijiang Normal School Specialized Class. In 2001, Lijiang Education College and Lijiang Nationalities Normal School merged to form a new Lijiang Education College. In 2006, Lijiang Education College was restructured into Lijiang Normal College. On May 31, 2024, the Ministry of Education approved the establishment of Lijiang Normal University based on Lijiang Normal College. After 119 years of educational practice, the school has developed the characteristics of "a profound tradition of 100 years of normal education, remarkable demonstration in ethnic unity and progress work, and remarkable achievements in serving the development of northwest Yunnan", making positive contributions to the economic and social development, ethnic unity and progress, border stability and basic education development in northwest Yunnan.

The school covers an area of 626,954 square meters, with a total building area of 211,560 square meters. Additionally, it has 26,900 square meters of independent non-ownership usage area. There are 12 colleges, including the College of Marxism, the College of Teacher Education, the College of Preschool Education, the College of Tourism and Economic Management, the College of Art, the College of Applied Technology, the College of Physical Education and Health, the College of Foreign Languages, the College of Literature and Media, the College of Mathematics and Information Technology, the College of Continuing Education, and the College of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education, among which 10 are teaching-oriented colleges. The university has a high-quality and professional teaching staff with firm beliefs, noble ethics, reasonable structure, excellent skills, and rich experience. Over 77.78% of the full-time teachers have master's degrees or above. Five teachers have received provincial-level talent titles such as "Yunnan Scholar" and "Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent with Outstanding Contributions in Yunnan Province", and 29 have received municipal-level talent titles. More than 20 teachers have received provincial-level or above honors such as "National Excellent Teacher" and "Yunnan Province Model of Professional Ethics". The university has two affiliated kindergartens, one affiliated nine-year integrated experimental school, and two affiliated high schools. There are 149 on-campus experimental and training rooms and 136 off-campus internship and training bases. The total value of teaching and research equipment is 70.7024 million yuan. The library has 968,100 volumes of paper books and 1,591,100 volumes of electronic books.

Since its establishment, the university has cultivated over 60,000 talents of various types, including outstanding alumni such as Zhang Guimei, the recipient of the July 1st Medal and the "Lighting Lamp" principal. It has also trained over 40,000 primary, secondary and preschool teachers who have been deeply rooted in grassroots education, earning it the title of "the cradle of teachers in northwest Yunnan". Nearly 10,000 graduates have become the backbone of government agencies, public institutions and companies in the three cities and states of northwest Yunnan, providing intellectual support and talent backing for the region's high-quality and leapfrog development. Currently, the university offers five undergraduate programs, namely Primary Education, Physical Education, English, Biology Science and Fine Arts, as well as 34 junior college programs including Primary School Moral and Legal Education, Primary Education and Preschool Education. Since 2018, students have won 820 awards in provincial and above-level competitions. The rate of junior college students being admitted to undergraduate programs has been continuously improving, reaching a peak of 76.42%. From 2018 to 2024, the employment rate of graduates by December 31 has remained above 95.54%.

Since 2018, the university has added one national-level science popularization and education base and two provincial-level scientific research platforms, and established the "Social Science Association", "Science and Technology Association" and "Discipline Construction Committee". It has newly added 527 various scientific research projects at all levels, including 5 national-level projects and 44 provincial and ministerial-level projects, with a total project funding of 10.5 million yuan. It has published 131 core journal papers, published 56 academic books, obtained 106 authorized patents, and 359 consultation reports have been adopted by the Party committee and government and industry and enterprises. It has won 54 scientific research achievements awards at or above the municipal and departmental levels.

The university has always adhered to the mission of serving the economic and social development of northwest Yunnan, promoting the development of basic education in the region, and facilitating the revitalization of education in rural areas and the revitalization of rural education. It has established a national science popularization education base for human and biological diversity, a Yunnan provincial base for promoting the national common language and characters, and the Zhang Guimei Teacher Ethics Education Hall of Lijiang City. It has also set up the "Lijiang City Primary and Secondary School and Kindergarten Teacher Training Base", training over 70,000 primary and secondary school and kindergarten teachers in northwest Yunnan. It has served the development of the cultural and tourism industry in northwest Yunnan, cultivating and training over 10,000 cultural and tourism professionals. It has done a good job in promoting ethnic unity and progress, and has been named as the "11th Batch of National Model Units for Ethnic Unity and Progress". It has established the Lijiang City Theme Education Hall for Consolidating the Awareness of the Chinese National Community. It has served the inheritance and innovation of ethnic cultures in northwest Yunnan, establishing a base for the inheritance of ethnic arts in northwest Yunnan. It has made unique contributions to the inheritance and innovation of Dongba culture of the Naxi ethnic group, and explored and formed a "five-in-one" inheritance system involving teachers, courses, textbooks, research, and students.

The university is deeply rooted in Lijiang to run its educational programs and has improved the collaborative education mechanism of "co-construction between the university and the local area and coexistence between the city and the university". In October 2020, under the coordination of the Ministry of Education, the university was included in the "grouped" targeted support program led by East China Normal University and involving Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Changsha Normal University and Yunnan Normal University, exploring and forming the "1+3+1" targeted support model. In April 2022, the university was listed as a key supported institution in the Ministry of Education's "Coordinated Quality Improvement Plan for Normal Education", adopting the "1+M+N" grouped form, led by East China Normal University, with the participation of Shanghai Normal University, Yunnan Normal University and Jiangxi Normal University, to jointly support the high-quality development and improvement of the university. With the combination of the two projects, the "1+5+3+1" coordinated quality improvement model has been explored and formed, comprehensively enhancing the university's and its teacher education programs' educational standards. By expanding the breadth and depth of cooperation with industries and enterprises, deepening the integration of industry and education as well as education and research, it serves local development and student growth. It also serves the strategy of opening up in education, actively engaging in talent cultivation exchanges and cooperation with universities in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and other countries.

Adhere to the educational positioning of "rooted in Lijiang, based in northwest Yunnan, serving Yunnan, facing the whole country, and integrating into the Belt and Road Initiative". Comprehensively strengthen the internal construction, consolidate the dominant position of teacher education programs, enhance the construction of the teaching staff, continuously improve the quality of education, the level of scientific research and the efficiency of running the university, develop distinctive features and reach a high level. Focus on cultivating high-quality applied talents needed for the basic education teaching force and the high-quality and leapfrog development of the regional economy and society, make greater contributions to the economic and social development of Yunnan, and strive to build a high-level local applied university with distinctive teacher education features.