From 27 September until 3 October 2005, a delegation from PEN-International headquarters (T. Alan Hurwitz, James J. DeCaro and E. William Clymer) visited the College of Art and Design for the Deaf at Zhongzhou University and the Xian School for the Deaf (See itinerary-1). The primary purpose of the visit to Zhongzhou University was to formally open the PEN-China videoconferencing center at Zhongzhou University (See itinerary-2). Further, the delegation participated in the official renaming of the Zhongzhou University's college for students who are deaf as the "College of Art and Design for the Deaf." Participating in the ceremonies were the Deputy Mayor of Zhengzhou (Gong Li-cun), the President of Zhongzhou University (Lin Zhe-tian), the Party General Secretary of Zhongzhou University (Xi Jian) and the President of Changchun University by videoconference (Zong Zhang-guo).

Dr. Hurwitz and Dr. DeCaro held a small group discussion with more than 55 deaf student leaders of the college. In addition, they made a presentation to the assembled student body of the College for the Deaf (approximately 200 students were in attendance).

Finally, the delegation met with representatives of the Tianjin Information Technology Company. These individuals installed the PEN videoconferencing system at Zhongzhou University (Cui Bao-ying and Li Peng). Plans were made with TITC to conduct tests to determine if the advanced Zhongzhou University videoconferencing system could be utilized to bridge to CCU, BUU and TUT, from the USA.

In addition to opening the videoconferencing facility at Zhongzhou University, the delegation visited the Xian School for the Deaf. This school is one of the premiere schools in China and is a major feeder for PEN-China partner institutions. Some 40 graduates per year study at ZZU, CCU, BUU and TUT.