An institution long recognised as a training ground for the country's intellectual elite plans to offer its students instruction in one of the basic skills of international business: golf.
Peking University could become the first mainland college to have an on-campus driving range and said it planned to include golf in its list of elective subjects in the future.
Construction of a driving range at the campus' eastern sports ground was on the drawing board, the university's publicity department said yesterday.
A physical education department officer said construction had not started and could not proceed without higher-level permission. 'The department doesn't have the final say. Permission from the university is needed so that money will be allocated,' the officer said.
Xinhua reported that the planned driving range would be able to accommodate 30 students at one time and up to 100 a day.
The university's decision to consider golf as part of its physical education programme surprised students yesterday. Third-year student Meng Fanji said he never thought golf would be available on campus and that the sport was not popular among his classmates.