A tourist steps on the sculpture of Zhu Ziqing, the famous 20th century Chinese essayist, while taking a photo at Tsinghua University in Beijing on August 7, 2009.(Photo Source:english.cri.cn) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 11 -- During summer holidays, prestigious universities like Peking and Tsinghua Universities become a favorite tourist spot for parents who hope a visit may motivate their kids to study hard, the Beijing Evening News reported Friday.

    Statistics show that Tsinghua University gets more than 30,000 visitors a day at peak times and an average day might bring as many as 20,000 visitors to the university.

    However, a one- or two-hour visit is far from enough to give children a good understanding of the profound cultural atmosphere that permeates these campuses, the Beijing Evening News' report said.

    Summer camp or tourist group organizers focus only on scenic spots, making youngsters feel as if they're touring any other attraction, such as the Great Wall.

    And booming tourism has brought some negative impacts to universities along with the huge profits.

    For example, tacky tourist behavior, like sitting on the sculpture of famous 20th century Chinese essayist Zhu Ziqing to take photos, tarnishes venerable statues.

    Meanwhile, large numbers of tourists can cause traffic jams and disturb the normal order on campus.

    Many illegal cab drivers, seizing the opportunity to make money, sit outside the gate of Tsinghua University waiting for business. They can usually make good money taking tourists around campus, according to one cab owner.

    Tsinghua University authorities have taken some emergency measures to cope with this situation, such as adding more sight-seeing cars and setting up volunteer guide stands to introduce scenic spots to tourists.

    (Source:english.cri.cn)