The China University of Geosciences (simplified Chinese: 中国地质大学; traditional Chinese: 中國地質大學) is a key national university directly under the administration of the Education Ministry of the People's Republic of China.
It consists of two campuses; one is located in Haidian District in Beijing, and the other in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei Province. It is regarded as a top university specialized in geosciences in China and exerts considerable influence within the Chinese mining and oil industry.
Its notable alumni include Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China's State Council, who attended the Beijing Campus when it was known as the Beijing Institute of Geology (BIG). Campuses Beijing Campus The Beijing Campus is located in the original campus of the former Beijing Institute of Geology, on Xueyuan Road, with a concentration of eight famous universities and academic tradition.
Wuhan Campus The Wuhan Campus is located on No. 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan, with a scenic view and a large campus area. It has a larger annual enrollment and provides more available majors besides geosciences.
Its Yifu Museum is known for housing China’s top ranked displays of dinosaur fossils, mineral and rock specimens. History The history of China University of Geosciences dates back to the Beijing Institute of Geology (BIG) (simplified Chinese: 北京地质学院; traditional Chinese: 北京地質學院; pinyin: Běijīng Dìzhì Xuéyuàn) which was a merger of the geology departments of Tsinghua University, Peking University, Tianjin University and Tangshan Railway College.
It was among China's first 16 key universities back in the 1950s. The university suspended operations from 1966-1970 due to the Cultural Revolution, and reopened in Jiangling County, Hubei Province, in 1970 as Hubei Institute of Geology (simplified Chinese: 湖北地质学院). In 1975 the campus was moved to Wuhan, and the school was renamed Wuhan Institute of Geology (WIG) (simplified Chinese: 武汉地质学院; traditional Chinese: 武漢地質學院; pinyin: Wǔhàn Dìzhì Xuéyuàn).
In 1978 BIG reopened in Beijing with the help of Deng Xiaoping. In 1986 the Chinese Government ratified the foundation of the Graduate School of WIG. It was ranked as one of the first 33 Graduate Schools nationwide.
Later in 1987 BIG and WIG were renamed China University of Geosciences （Beijing）and China University of Geosciences （Wuhan）, respectively. CUG is among the first batch of 15 universities of project 211 for Higher Education.
