A New York Business Trip Side Story: Princeton University

2012.06 Princeton University

In summer in North America, the sun does not go down until around 8:30. On this business trip to the United States, my weekdays were filled with work, so the only parts that really felt like travel were those few evening hours after getting off work, while the sky was still bright.

That evening, a local Chinese colleague took us for a walk around Princeton University. The shift from office mode into a college town took only a short ride, but the atmosphere changed completely. The streets were clean, people walked at an easy pace, and the big-city pressure to hurry everywhere seemed to disappear.

Walking into a quiet college town after work

In my memory, Princeton University was one of the top ten universities in the United States, and also an old, historic school. But once I actually arrived, the ranking was not the first thing that stood out. What I noticed was how closely the town and the campus seemed to blend together: shops, coffee, old-looking buildings, and a kind of liveliness that was not noisy.

A calm street scene in Princeton with trees, storefronts, and pedestrians. — A quiet Princeton street where the college-town pace felt very different from New York.

Tudor-style buildings and shops along a Princeton street. — Tudor-style storefronts in Princeton, where the town and campus atmosphere blended together.

The rhythm here was completely different from New York. In the earlier parts of this trip, I was moving between skyscrapers, subways, tourists, and Broadway. Here, the evening light, roadside trees, and stone buildings pulled me back into walking mode.

A small gateway with its own campus legend

Do not underestimate this modest-looking gate. I heard that students usually avoid walking through the middle arch. The story goes that anyone who dares to pass through the center will not graduate @.@'"

A stone Princeton University gateway with a central arch. — A campus gateway tied to the student legend about avoiding the middle arch before graduation.

Whether that campus legend is true or not, outsiders obviously have no way to verify it. But as a visitor, it made the walk more memorable. A gate that would otherwise just be a gate suddenly had the atmosphere of something you probably should not casually challenge.

This building in front of us was, according to what I heard, once used by George Washington as a temporary office during the American Revolutionary War.

Princeton was also briefly the capital of the United States in the country's early years... do not take my word for it; go Google it yourself...

A stone Princeton University building with arched windows and an entrance. — A historic-looking Princeton building connected in the walk's storytelling to George Washington and early U.S. history.

All right, that is about as much as I heard. That concludes my detailed explanation of Princeton University...

Now let us walk into the campus and wander around XD

A tree-lined Princeton University campus path with stone buildings. — Entering the campus walk after the short history lesson from the local colleague.

A large stone gateway on the Princeton University campus. — One of the stone campus gateways that made the evening walk feel unhurried.

A Princeton University stone building with tall windows and a lawn. — Campus architecture seen while wandering without a fixed itinerary.

Not an itinerary, just an evening wandering through campus

From here on, there was no real must-see route. Our colleague simply led us through campus. Whenever we saw stone walls, arches, lawns, windows, or a chapel, we stopped and took a few photos. The nice thing about this kind of walk is that there is no schedule to rush through, so each building can be looked at slowly.

A large chapel interior with pews, hanging lights, and stained-glass windows. — Inside a chapel-like campus space, where the stained glass and high ceiling shifted the mood of the walk.

Bicycles beside stone buildings in a Princeton University courtyard. — A courtyard corner with stone walls and bicycles, part of the quieter campus atmosphere.

Many of the campus buildings had that feeling of being old but carefully maintained. To me at the time, this was probably the image of a famous American university: not just a ranking in a book, but walls, window frames, and archways that seemed to carry time with them.

Oh, by the way, I also heard that Princeton alumni donate very generously.

As long as you can get in, the cost all the way to graduation is apparently much cheaper than at many other private universities.

A stone campus building with a tower-like facade and arched entrance. — A building photographed during the conversation about Princeton's alumni support.

That was just something I heard from a colleague while we were walking, not current admissions or tuition guidance. If you actually want to know today's costs or financial aid situation, check the university's official information.

A garden restaurant and the quieter corners of campus

The garden restaurant on campus...

A Princeton campus building beyond a manicured lawn and shrubs. — A landscaped campus building surrounded by lawn and shrubs.

A Princeton University courtyard with bicycles, stone buildings, and a wooden door. — A quiet campus courtyard with stone walls, bicycles, and a wooden door.

Around this part of the walk, the scenery shifted from larger campus buildings into smaller courtyards, stone walls, bicycles, and shade. Each photo by itself may only look like a corner of campus, but together they captured what a college-town evening should feel like: some people studying, some passing through, and some visitors like us simply wandering.

A large Princeton University clock-tower gateway with an arched passage. — A clock-tower gateway that stood out among the campus buildings.

A Princeton University path lined with trees and stone buildings. — A tree-lined path and arched building, the kind of quiet corner that made the campus feel lived in.

A tree-shaded Princeton University walkway leading past stone archways. — A shaded path through the old campus buildings before leaving the campus area.

Huh... after walking and walking, we somehow came out again ~.~'"

Tudor-style storefronts and pedestrians on a Princeton street. — Back outside the campus area, returning to the college-town streets.

A Princeton town street with storefronts and pedestrians. — The walk ended back among storefronts and town streets.

Beautiful, but not exactly mind-blowing

On the flight to the United States, I had met an overseas Chinese man who had lived in New York for more than twenty years. When he heard that I was going to Princeton for work, he strongly recommended that I visit this beautiful campus.

To be honest, it really was a distinctive campus, and a very typical American-style college town.

But it was not exactly so amazing that it blew me away...

Of course, it depends on what you compare it with. Compared with the many commercial-building-style university campuses in Taiwan, Princeton University has a lot more character...

But compared with Cambridge in England, it was only OK...

If you do not believe me and have no chance to compare them in person, just take a look at my earlier post on Cambridge in England and you will get the idea XD

So this is not a "must-do Princeton itinerary" post. It is more like an evening during a business trip: a colleague brought us into a quiet college town, we heard a few campus legends, looked at some old buildings, and I walked out thinking, "Nice atmosphere, but Cambridge is still stronger."

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2012.06 United States Business Trip Side Story - Part 1 The Phantom of the Opera

2012.06 United States Business Trip Side Story - Part 2 New York: Statue of Liberty

2012.06 United States Business Trip Side Story - Part 3 New York: Empire State Building

2012.06 United States Business Trip Side Story - Part 4 Princeton

2012.06 United States Business Trip Side Story - Part 5 Impressions of America