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Jimu News commentator Qu Jing

Recently, Tsinghua University and Peking University have opened summer campus visits. If you want to visit the campus, you need to make an online reservation with your real name, follow the designated route, and enter and exit from the designated school gate. Both schools require reservations 7 days in advance.

Due to the limited number of places available on campus, some study abroad programs have shown a lot of chaos. Tsinghua University has made it particularly clear this year that it does not allow commercial organizations to organize "one-day tours" to the campus.

Research and study groups at Tsinghua University (Source: Red Star News)

(Photo source: Tsinghua University official website)

As soon as summer vacation arrives, the campuses of Tsinghua University and Peking University, two of China's top universities, become popular destinations for summer camps and study tours for primary and secondary school students. Many parents hope that their children can visit these two schools and feel the atmosphere of the knowledge halls of the towering universities, hoping to encourage their children to study hard, set high goals, and learn from these outstanding and motivated students.

This desire to see their children succeed is completely understandable, but because this idea is so common, the demand for visiting prestigious schools has soared, and a series of chaos has also emerged. Some commercial study tour agencies have turned campus tours that are meant to learn about universities and experience university life into sightseeing tours that are meant to be a quick tour and take photos. A study tour group that charged 8,000 yuan failed to get a place on campus and could only arrange for students to take photos at the gates of Tsinghua University and Peking University; a "scalper" claimed that he could bring people into the campus for 300 yuan, which gave rise to the risk of fraud; a large number of tourists poured in, and the tour guides also used loudspeakers to introduce things along the way, which disrupted the normal teaching and living order of the school and increased the management and maintenance costs of the university.

Tourists take photos at Tsinghua University (Source: Red Star News)

Someone once said, since everyone wants to visit Tsinghua University and Peking University so much, and it is so hard to get a ticket, why don't universities just sell tickets and use prices to adjust the supply and demand relationship? In fact, universities are places for teaching and research, not tourist attractions for people to play. Opening the school gates to welcome visitors from all directions is to reflect an open and inclusive attitude, get close to society, and strengthen exchanges. If it becomes a tourist attraction and sells tickets, it may attract more tourists, which goes against the original intention of the university to maintain normal teaching order and balance the needs of all parties.

Therefore, comprehensive governance measures are needed to manage the chaos of university campus tours. Tsinghua University's explicit refusal to allow commercial "one-day tours" is a clear-cut and timely measure that reflects the cherishment of university culture and the adherence to the essence of education. On the one hand, through a strict review system, overly commercialized tours are rejected. On the other hand, through advance reservations, real-name verification, and visits along designated routes, the flow of tourists is effectively controlled and the visitor experience is enhanced, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. For example, Peking University has launched a summer study tour project, which customizes study tours and study routes and Peking University's ideological and political "MOOCs" for groups such as primary and secondary schools, allowing them to gain an immersive learning and thinking experience.

Peking University Summer Research Program Launched (Source: Peking University Official Website)

Therefore, parents who want to take their children to visit famous schools during the summer vacation, as well as other members of the public who want to visit university campuses, should realize that university campuses are not tourist attractions, and visiting universities should not be just a simple check-in and photo taking. Those quaint and beautiful buildings, every brick and tile is soaked in history and culture, and those modern and beautiful teaching buildings and scientific research centers are home to countless studious people who study hard and seek knowledge and innovation. Not to mention, if you can listen to a class and participate in some activities during the study tour, it will help the young people who come to visit to establish respect for knowledge, generate a vision for the future, and inspire them to work hard to realize their dreams. It also allows more members of the public to see the humanistic features of top universities, understand the connotation of education, and enhance their sense of social responsibility.

To make the commercialized "one-day tour" of universities lose the market and guide the public to visit university campuses better, it requires joint attention and multiple measures. Relevant departments should strengthen the supervision of commercial study tour projects and crack down on illegal activities such as false propaganda and illegal charges; universities can optimize the reservation system, design distinctive, cultural and meaningful theme tour routes, and carry out interactive experience activities to guide visitors to have a deep understanding of the university and experience the university, rather than just a superficial understanding or a cursory visit.

Visitors should be more civilized and rational, make appointments for campus visits through proper channels, feel the grandeur of the university and appreciate the beauty of knowledge with a more serious and cherishing attitude, maintain campus order with practical actions, and not turn a university with rich cultural heritage, solemnity and tranquility into a crowded and noisy check-in destination.

(Source: Jimu News)