BLCU is located in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing, 12 km from Tian'anmen, the center of the city. The campus covers an area of 38 hectares, with a floor space of 240,000 square meters.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, the school was founded in 1962 with the name of Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students. In June 1964, with the approval of the State Council, it was renamed Beijing Language Institute. Again, in June 1996, with the approval of the State Education Commission, it was designated as Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). BLCU is the only international university in China with its main task set at teaching the Chinese language and culture to international students and serves as the center for teaching Chinese and the study of the Chinese language. For nearly 40 years, the university has trained some 60,000 international students from over 160 countries and regions who are proficient in Chinese and who are familiar with the Chinese culture. Nowadays, more than 6,000 international students and over 3,000 Chinese students come and study in the university each year. BLCU boasts an array of 700 teachers (among whom 500 are teachers of Chinese),about 300 are professors and associate professors, including many distinguished and erudite scholars with 20 to 30 years' teaching experience. Many of the teachers have been invited to teach and to lecture abroad.
Now the university comprises the following institutions: the College of the Chinese Language, the College of Advanced Chinese Training ,the College of the Humanities (The Department of Teacher In Service Training), the College of Intensivefied Chinese Training, , the College of Foreign Languages, The Predeparture Training Center, the College of Further Education, the Network Education College, the Department of Basic Course Education, and the Department of Computer Science and Technology,The Finance Department.. The above-mentioned colleges and departments offer courses of short-term speeded-up programs, undergraduate and postgraduate education, and non-degree education.
Apart from the teaching institutions, BLCU also has quite a few research bodies, such as the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language Center, the Chinese Proficiency Test Center (HSK), the Language Teaching and Research Institute, the Language Informaiton Processing Center, the Institute of Comparative Literatures, the Institute of Foreign Language Teaching, the Institute of Sinology, the Institute of Chinese Culture. In terms of auxiliary institutions to teaching and research, the university has a library, an audio-visual education center, Beijing Language and Culture University Press, the School Editorial Office and the Alumni Center that plays the liaison role between the Alma Mater and the alumnus/alumna abroad.
The International Student Department. The International Students Department (ISD) is responsible for the enrollment and administration of international students. The Admission Office is in Room 101, south wing of the Main Building, offering consulting service for enrollment and service for enrollment application. The Administration Office is in Rooms 117 and 118 in the Administration Building, responsible for daily management work of international students. Room 111 is in charge of students' data, files and school roll. The International Student Department (ISD) wishes to keep contact with every international student during their study in BLCU and after their graduation from the school, and tries to provide possible aid to them all.