While it is under repairs, Shenzhen's centenary church school - Qianzhen Girls' School has been turned into an art exhibition center showcasing the history of communication between the Hakka residents in Southern China and Hong Kong with overseas Christians in an exhibit.
On the morning of June 18, the art exhibition of the school and the East-West cultural integration expert seminar were opened at the former site of the school with over one hundred in attendance.
In 1891, the Swiss Basel Mission of Lutheranism moved a girls' school - which later became "Qianzhen Girls' School" - in Hong Kong to Langkou. The school only recruited female students in its early stages and taught curricula similar to today's curriculum.
In the 1920s, the school was opened to both male and female students, renaming it as "Qianzhen School" ("Qianzhen" means godly, pure and faithful). It has produced a lot of famous talents proficient in various fields, such as military, education and engineering.
Due to various reasons, it caught fire twice and went under reconstruction repeatedly.
After the Liberation, it was changed into a primary school where a number of residents nearby studied. Until 1985, the school was still used until it became clear that it was now dangerous to stay in and was later on closed down.
After over two decades, the sealed history of the school was awakened in a general survey. In 2007, it was listed one of the cultural relics protected in the district.
Throughout 2013 to 2015, the local government of Longhua New District collected the historical data regarding the school through the interviews with almost 100 schoolfellows, villages, missionaries who have been in China and their descendants. Meanwhile, a documentary about the school had been made.
Around the same period, "the Research Association on the History of Yanzhen" was officially founded, consisting of local and foreign experts in various fields whose aims include the discussion and exploiration of the significance and profound influence of the school through the perspectives of society, culture and history.
