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On a hot summer day in July, well-known historian Zi Zhongyun was giving a lecture at Beijing Normal University.

Few students were in the hall, as most had already started their vacation. Most of those present were from off-campus.

Wang Shuilong was one of them.

He gained a master's degree in a military-related major in 2003 and has worked in a Beijing government office ever since.

Now in his late 30s, he has attended all kinds of lectures in the past six years.

"I wasn't busy, so I went to some lectures recommended by my friends, and it felt good," he said. "After that, I began to search for information on lectures on the Internet."

Wang is just one of many fans of summer lectures in the capital.

A micro blog account on the Sina Weibo website called Lectures at Peking and Tsinghua Universities has more than 100,000 followers, while a chat group on Internet company Tencent's platform on after-work lectures in Beijing has almost 500 frequent contributors.

Most people who follow the lecture circuit are white-collar workers from sectors including finance, education and pharmaceuticals, design, IT and the media, as well as government employees. They often gather online to share information and personal experiences.

Having attended more than 1,500 lectures, Wang said he had achieved a different perspective.

"Lectures are nourishment for the mind," he said. "I have learned a great deal. I have acquired critical thinking."

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