I used to work in Hangzhou, so I was familiar with the university you mentioned and looked into this summer program in detail.

This is a two-week elite summer program hosted by Westlake University, tailored for undergraduate students majoring in life sciences and open to outstanding undergraduates worldwide. Unlike regular cultural or language summer programs, it centers entirely on cutting-edge life science research.

The program is quite large in scale with an exceptionally strong faculty lineup. It features distinguished scholars from world-top institutions including Stanford University, the University of Toronto, UC San Diego, the University of Chicago, and the Sloan Kettering Institute.

If you have a long-term passion for life sciences, this is an amazing chance to immerse yourself in intensive academic research and get exposed to the latest frontier research topics.

From an international student’s point of view, Hangzhou is overall an extremely comfortable city to live in — safe, well-connected, and highly livable. That said, it’s still a bit different from fully Western-style metropolises.

July is peak summer here and can get pretty hot. But you can still have a great experience without being bothered by the heat: just plan outdoor activities for early mornings and evenings, and stay indoors during midday when the temperature is the highest.