Capital Mandarin School was mainly focused on alleviating communication problems between colleagues at work. This explains the location of our first school: the Beijing Guomao Business district. But after some time, satisfied customers, comprising expat community in Beijing, began asking whether it would be possible to send their Children to Capital Mandarin, or even to make friends’ visits more enjoyable by teaching them the basics of spoken Chinese in the shortest of times. This is why, after a short student drought during and after the world economic crisis and the 2008 Olympics, Capital Mandarin School also expanded its teaching orientation towards abroad based students who would like to fully immerse themselves into Beijing culture and language at the same time. In 2011 increasing student numbers made it clear that the interest in China was rising rapidly.
Moreover, student voices were calling for a more profound and unbiased way of teaching Chinese as a culture and thought. Chinese language beyond its application as a communication tool became a more and more urgent need. Along with this interest, students, parents and seniors began to wish for a less stressful environment than the crowded and bustling City Center of Beijing. It was then decided that Capital Mandarin should get its own fully functional campus, 3 stations away from Guomao.With an increasing interest of young students, children of expat workers or internationally minded families after the 2008 Olympic Games, Capital Mandarin has accommodated this interest by offering Summer Camp packages from June until August every year.
Ever since, the camps have become the specialty of Capital Mandarin – which is certainly also due to our founder Ma Laoshi’s penchant for teaching (and laughing with) the young ones. The special attention she gave the Chinese camps and her insight in parents concern for their Children’s safety were a big argument to build Gaobeidian Campus. Since 2014, parents can send their Children to a fully autonomous area in a new, calm, traditional and arts-focused Chinese district in Beijing. Evolution of this special experience with the Capital Mandarin School shows that success comes with attention to what is most important: our students. We are looking forward to welcoming new campsters next years.
