Facial recognition and Shower bookings: How China's universities are reopening

BEIJING (Reuters) - As COVID-19 cases in China sink to new lows, the world’s largest population of university students is heading back to campus in a migration defined by lockdowns, patriotic education and cutting-edge surveillance equipment.

People pass facial recognition camera-controlled gates to enter Peking University as Chinese students gradually return to their campuses after an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Beijing, China August 31, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

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The highly choreographed return comes as Chinese universities revert to in-person instruction for the fall semester after months of pandemic controls.

Some universities have strict rules governing how students eat, bathe and travel. Students in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai told Reuters that they must submit detailed movement reports and stay on campus.

“But they haven’t yet told us the specific application process or what reasons will be considered reasonable,” said one student at Beijing’s Renmin University.

Renmin University did not respond to a request for comment. A notice on its social media account confirmed students must apply to leave campus.

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At the same time, government procurement documents show dozens of universities have purchased “epidemic control” surveillance systems based on facial recognition, contact tracing and temperature checks.

There are more than 20 million university students in China, and most live on campus in shared dorm rooms, presenting a challenge for health authorities.

On Chinese social media, students have chafed at the controls, which mirror restrictions on the wider population during the height of the outbreak in March.