‘No balls’: School hits freshmen with unusual bans

A boarding school in North China sparked discussions online for its laundry list of bans that includes phones and shorts to athletic balls and long hair on girls.

Hengshui High School in Hebei Province is requiring freshmen not only to wear uniforms as most Chinese schools, but is nixing slippers, shorts and above-the-knee skirts, according to China Newsweek on Monday.

The prestigious school is known for its military-like atmosphere and producing high scorers on the gaokao, or national college entrance exam.

The new regulations also outline haircut standards for female students, which include no long, dyed or wavy hair. Make-up is also forbidden.

Mobile phones, electronic dictionaries and similar products are also not allowed on campus, as well as things like novels, comics and basketballs.

Students cannot bring any food on campus beyond milk, biscuits and specific fruits.

Even nap times are strictly scheduled.

“Be on the bed at 12:43pm. Start your noon nap at 12:45,” read the regulations.

Most on Sina Weibo were shocked by the rules. “Why does everyone see this as normal? Is it a way to teach people? Or a way to program robots to take exams ,” said“Hui hui hui hui hui puke .”

Some were not surprised. “It is nothing to get excited about. A lot of good high schools have similar rules,” said a Sina Weibo User“Re men bi aoqingbaoyuantu .”

The school has not issued a response as of press time.