CHINA / Regional
Peking University bans campus tourism
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-25 06:45
Peking University, widely reputed to be one of China's most prestigious
educational institutions, attracts more than its fair share of gawkers.
Tourists take a picture inside the campus of Peking University on July
15, 2006. [Xinhua]
It is common to see busloads of parents and grandparents showing
children, even toddlers, around the campus perhaps hoping that they would
one day be lucky enough to enroll in the elite university.
But the university has had enough of being a tourist attraction it has
banned all tour groups from the campus.
The exceptions are individual visitors and groups of high school students
organized by educational institutions as long as they secure permission
from the university's security department three days in advance.
According to a notice posted on the university's website over the
weekend, the move is intended to maintain order on campus.
Predictably, the decision has generated heated debate. While tourists
feel aggrieved, students in the university applauded the ban.
Peking University, along with Tsinghua University, another top
institution in the country, has become a must-see in tour packages,
especially for parents who want their children to excel.
Tsinghua University has not announced any ban on campus tourism.
Many tourist agencies around the country provide such packages; and the
universities do not charge for the tours. Consequently, Peking
University's western gate and the street in front are always crowded with
photo-snapping tourists to the point of traffic snarls. Inside the campus
are vendors peddling T-shirts, drinks and souvenirs to tourists.
"Going through the west gate once, I thought I had walked into a farmers'
market," a Peking University student posted on BBS.
Students also complained about the noise with some tourists talking
loudly near classrooms.
"Peking University should not become a tourist destination," said Tang
Jun, a researcher with the Sociology Institute under the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences.
Universities should be open to the public, but they can refuse groups
organized by tour agencies, Beijing Morning Post quoted Tang as saying.
However, many tourists are dismayed.
"How could Peking University do this? Isn't the university built by the
country and with taxpayers' money? I think it is also very meaningful for
primary school students to visit the campus," said a man surnamed Cui
from Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Gu Haibing, a professor at Renmin University of China, also opposed the
ban.
"Peking University is the university of all Chinese people It might want
to close its campus to tour groups because it does not want to pay for
the security," he was quoted as saying by Beijing Morning Post.
China Daily
(China Daily 07/25/2006 page1)
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