With the conclusion of the year of the sheep, we usher in the year of the monkey. We hope for a good start to the year of the monkey. Unconsciously, the green willows bring signs that spring is around the corner, reminding us that we are soon to be wrapped in the embrace of a new season. The spring of 2016 happens to be the one year anniversary of the founding of the Open University for Older Adults. On the occasion of the new semester, let's review the development of the Open University for Older Adults over the past year. 

On March 19, Beijing Experimental School of the Open University of China (OUC) held their 2016 Spring Opening Ceremony and the launch ceremony for their Mobile Learning Pilot.

Recently, the selection results of “OUC's Top 10 News Events of 2015” were announced. The selection campaign was undertaken jointly by China.org.cn and the Open University of China (OUC).

On March 5, 2016, a HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) instruction training programme for domestic and foreign Chinese teaching instructors successfully concluded.

On February 27, 2016, a two-way video news conference on a distance learning programme developed by the Open University of China (OUC) and the TRAMPIL Indonesia Foundation was held concurrently in Surabaya, Indonesia and Beijing, China.

Profile: Yi Fengjiao, born in 1983 in a farmer's household located in Hubei province, graduated from a secondary technical school in 2000 and then went to work in Guangdong.

Zhu Xueqin, a 2007 Business Administration graduate from Shanghai Television University (Shanghai RTVU), is now Chairman of the Labor Union and Secretary of the Youth League Branch at Shanghai Huari Garment Co.Ltd. She has been awarded many honorary titles, including National Textile Industry Model Worker, National Advanced Knowledge-Based Worker, Shanghai Model Worker, and so on.

Editor's Note: On February 16, 2016, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a notice entitled, “Recognition of Party Member's Vanguard Post, Outstanding Innovative Work and Excellent Research Report in 2015” (No. 5 from the Party Committee on Educational Institutions, 2016). The Open University of China’s (OUC) “Distance Vocational Education Orientations in Rural Areas and New Innovative Pattern of Cultivating Professional Farmers" was awarded "Outstanding Innovative Work."