Lessons in young love

In a conservative culture, it takes a shift in mindset for a college to encourage students to date. But to educate a young population on the art of love, further action must be taken.

Young Chinese can get married while attending college - only on the condition that he has reached 22 years of age and she 20, which is China's minimum age for marriage. But college students are generally discouraged from dating - on the assumption that dating will disrupt their learning. That makes Ningbo Institute of Technology unique: It lists among its general guidelines that each student should date at least once no matter if it results in anything like a long-term relationship, or not.

Dating has always been widespread on Chinese campuses whether or not it is tolerated. Even sex is by no means uncommon. During the late 1970s and early 1980s when I was in college, sex would get you expelled if the school authority got wind of it. Nowadays I guess schools do not go out of their way to crack down on it and would take punitive action only if they are forced to. Overall, the trend is clearly toward higher tolerance.