Peking University plays favorites with foreign students

A post on the Renren.com (a popular student social network in China) by an American student under the Chinese name Guo Jiaxin exposed the difference between Chinese students’ dormitory condition and the foreign students’ in Peking university, China’s top-notch university and bringing the issues under the spotlight.

A Japanese student in her dormitory – Zhong-guan-xin-yuan in Peking University


A Chinese student in her dormitory crowded with her stuff
Guo claimed that the university has made a lot of improvement to their foreign students’ dormitories during this summer vacation. They have renovated the swimming pool, the bowling center, KTV rooms, the gymnasium and the billiards room. While the foreign students are enjoying the new, well-conditioned dormitories, the Chinese students are living in the old shabby dormitories with plank bed (no mattress), and no air-conditioner. Guo also called for improvement and equal treatment for the Chinese student in her post.
A female student in Peking University said that the dormitory doesn’t have enough space at all. She has to put their clothes under the bed or on the desk. She keeps only the clothes for the current season and the rest are sent back home. Most of the domestic school dormitory is 4-bed room and cost around 700 to 1000 yuan per academic year. There’s no TV, no air-conditioner in the dormitory. Many Chinese students expressed that they would like to pay more for the dormitory if the condition of the dormitory can be improved.
One officer in the management staff for student dormitory who refused to make his name public, explained that the Zhong-guan-xin-yuan is a new dormitory for foreign students. It’s much better conditioned than the old one. Besides, their dormitory fees are accordingly much higher than the domestic students. And it takes time to improve domestic student’s dormitories and it’s impossible to reach the standard of the foreign students’ dormitories in a short period of time."
Many people find the difference hard to accept and accuse the University of being favoring foreign students over Chinese students. They joked that, though both are students in the Peking University, the foreign student dormitories are like star hotels while the Chinese students are sleeping on wood planks." Blogger Zuo Chongnian satirizes that the double standard of student’s dormitories is the result of some people’s over-friendly hypocrisy.
Comments from netizens:
@杨永涛(student)：