Beijing Language and Culture University

Beijing Language and Culture University

北京语言大学
Other name	Bei Yu (北语)
Former names	Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students (1962–4), Beijing Language Institute (1964–1996)
Established	1962; 62 years ago (1962)
President	Peng Duan
Vice-president	Cao Zhiyun, Qi Dexiang, Dong Lijun
Chairperson of the University Council	Ni Haidong
Administrative staff	1,201 (est.)
Undergraduates	6,258 (4,486 domestic, 1,772 international)
Postgraduates	2,216 (1,879 domestic, 337 international)
Doctoral students	338 (242 domestic, 96 international)
Location	Beijing , China 39°59′36″N 116°20′16″E / 39.99333°N 116.33778°E / 39.99333; 116.33778
Campus	Urban
Colors	Green, yellow, gray
Mascot	Beiyuer (宝贝鱼)
Website	blcu.edu.cn english.blcu.edu.cn
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	北京语言大学
Traditional Chinese	北京語言大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Běijīng Yǔyán Dàxué
Yuyan Xueyuan
Simplified Chinese	语言学院
Traditional Chinese	語言學院
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yǔyán Xuéyuàn

Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU; 北京语言大学) is a public university of linguistics in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China.

The university has the main aim of teaching the Chinese language and culture to foreign students.^[1] It is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. It is the only international university founded by the People's Republic of China named after "language" and with the main mission of spreading Chinese language and culture. However, it also takes Chinese students specializing in foreign languages and other relevant subjects of humanities and social sciences, and trains teachers of Chinese as a foreign language. It used to be the only institute of this kind in China. After the push for higher education starting in the 90s, nowadays many other universities in almost every major city in China have a similar offer. Thus bachelor, master or post-doc degrees in "Teaching Chinese as a second language to Foreigners", as well as bachelor's and master's degrees in several foreign languages, are no longer only to be found at BLCU.^[2]

Beijing Language and Culture University is often called "Little United Nations" in China because of its very large number of international students from various countries.^[1][3] As of 2022, there are approximately 9,000 international students in its campus, ranking first in China.^[4]

As of 2020, Beijing Language and Culture University ranked no.5 nationwide among universities specialized on languages teaching and research in the recent edition of a recognized Best Chinese Universities Ranking, the sub-ranking of Shanghai Ranking.^[5]