No holding hands in varsity

Institution bans public display of intimacy between students

Beijing: A private university in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao has made national headlines for banning public intimacy between student lovers as part of its controversial code of conduct.

Qingdao Binhai University, founded as a private vocational college in 1992, has named and shamed students said to break school rules, detailing their private information as well as unapproved behaviour such as holding hands and hugging in public.

A student told Beijing Times that males can’t publicly help carry bags for females and lovers can’t share one tray at the canteen or an earphone.

Another student, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he received a “serious warning” from the university after a teacher caught him holding hands with his girlfriend. The student was required to clean a “dirty, outdated” toilet as punishment.

“I can’t even give her a hand on campus if she is ill,” said the student.

Some reported that there are no sanitation workers at the university and students found to violate disciplinary rules are often sent to clean toilets.

The university also has strict requirements on personal appearance, banning male students from dying their hair without good reasons. A student’s hairstyle is also carefully recorded, noting yellow colour or damage.

Sanctions are based on a score system starting at 100, and students would fail if they have less than 60 points. But as a reward, a student can earn extra points for donating county annals about their hometown to the school library. A manager in charge of student affairs said the university placed strict requirements on students from the day of its opening. He also said the university neither advocates nor bans student relationships but demands “students mind manners”.

He admitted that the university employs no sanitation workers, but not for financial reasons, adding that students can form good habits of cleanliness by cleaning for eight minutes a day.

The manager also denied forced donation of county annals.