As a crucial initiative to advance the internationalization of education, international summer schools aim to fully leverage global educational resources, establish close academic exchanges and cooperation with overseas universities, actively disseminate Chinese culture, jointly promote the research and development of fundamental and innovative technologies, and provide innovative solutions for the world. At present, international summer schools organized in China have achieved initial outcomes. However, due to their relatively late start, the organization of these programs still faces multiple challenges. Taking the international summer school hosted by the International Joint Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE) of Tongji University as a case study, this paper explores the preliminary achievements and practical challenges encountered by Chinese universities in developing international summer education programs. By sorting out the project background, school-running objectives, curriculum design, organization and implementation, as well as feedback mechanisms, this paper identifies the current limitations of international summer schools in terms of curriculum adaptability, classroom interaction, and management mechanisms. On this basis, forward-looking optimization suggestions are put forward, with the purpose of providing references for Chinese universities to build a more open, adaptable and sustainable international education platform.