Representatives from the Chinese embassy in the UK visited Uppingham School on Thursday, attending the unveiling ceremony for a paving stone dedicated to Charles Cao Quin, senior advisor on China-UK partnerships at the school.

Over the past years, Charles Cao Quin of the Beijing Conservatory has worked closely with Uppingham School, an English boarding school famed for its rich tradition of all-around education, especially of music.

The school flew the Chinese national flag in tribute to the visit of Wang Yongli, minister counselor for education at the Chinese embassy in London.

Charles was the first person from China honored with an engraved paving slab in his name.

Doctor Richard Maloney, headmaster of Uppingham School, praised that Charles has contributed a lot to the communication between China and the UK in terms of music and education partnership.

“Charles is an artist and an academic. He is someone who I think, both of our country should be very proud to have a friend, a representative like him,” he said.

At present, there are more than 800 13-18-year-old students at the School, including nearly 60 Chinese students, most of whom are from Hong Kong.

Uppingham school was founded in 1584. The famous British educator Edward Thring (1821-87) used to be its headmaster and took the lead in proposing the concept of “all-around education”.

Thring opened the first school gymnasium in England, introduced wood and metal workshops, and provided a swimming pool. In academic matters he stressed sound training in mathematics, the classics, and music. In 1869 he founded the Headmasters’ Conference, an organization that had a great influence in English school education.