Chinese students say ‘I don’t’ to university’s advert for couples-only accommodation
Nankai University offers fully furnished married quarters for just US$360 a year, but idea is roundly mocked online
A Chinese university’s attempt to fill dozens of vacant rooms set aside for married couples has sparked derision online with some people accusing it of encouraging students to tie the knot for the sake of cheap accommodation.
“No more long-distance relationships, a couple’s dorm will give you a world of your own,” Nankai University in Tianjin, a port city to the northeast of Beijing, wrote on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, on Thursday.
According to a report published on Friday by China Youth Daily, the fully furnished rooms, which come with a private toilet, cost 2,400 yuan (US$360) a year to rent, though it did not say how much a standard room costs.
The Weibo post made clear, however, that the accommodation was available only to married couples and that both partners had to be enrolled at the university.
The couples’ rooms were introduced in the 1990s, but in recent years they have not been popular, with only 18 of the 43 available currently occupied, mostly by older, postgraduate students, the report said.