Inspired by the theory of “Internationalization at Home”, the landscape history course at Shanghai Jiao Tong University carries out research on students’ international design thinking through comparative studies of Chinese and foreign landscape history. Through multi-level case studies, students learned design language in terms of design philosophy, methods and characteristics and compared similarities and differences. Based on cross-culture design language study, their confidence in the international levels of personal design thinking is improved. The research uses questionnaires and sign tests to assess learning outcomes. From 2019 to 2021, experiments in three classes reveal that the majority of students got to know more foreign gardens after classes, and their self-ranking scores improved obviously. Sign tests reveal that the changes at the class level are significant. The landscape history course has uniquely diverse cultural content, which is particularly useful for developing international perspectives, cultivating global citizen awareness and establishing cultural tolerance and sensitivity. It can realize international design thinking improvement based on local classroom teaching.