Community Activity Report: September 15 - September 22, 2025
Period: 2025-09-15 to 2025-09-22
New Topics: 51
New Posts: 509
Active Users: @suen (159 likes, 61 posts), @cnboy (123 likes, 37 posts), @nya (89 likes, 31 posts)
Overview
This week, the forum was dominated by a stark contrast between the experiences of current students and recent alumni. On one hand, discussions about escalating administrative controls on campus, from physical spaces to digital devices, were rampant. On the other, graduates shared candid stories from their new university lives, offering a glimpse into the freedoms and challenges that lie ahead. This dynamic created a rich tapestry of conversation, weaving together themes of autonomy, privacy, creative expression, and community resilience. Alongside these serious debates, the community continued to bond over shared humor, personal projects, and a steady stream of adorable pet photos.
Highlights of the Week
A significant point of discussion centered on the perceived tightening of school regulations. The conversation was sparked by news that the International Department’s “book activity” space, a traditionally flexible area for students, had been formally converted into a mandatory self-study classroom. This change was seen by many as a move towards a more rigid and controlled environment. The sentiment was amplified by a parallel development: the implementation of new time limits on school-issued smart tablets. In that thread, @Adler lamented that promises made by the school during a recent student meeting had not been honored, deepening a sense of mistrust. The crackdown on personal electronics also continued to be a hot topic, with reports of supervisors conducting surprise checks during lunch breaks and persistent rumors of school leadership using surveillance camera footage to catch students on their phones. These incidents fueled broader debates about student autonomy, such as the ongoing controversy in Gewu College over seating arrangements. #卮言
While current students grappled with campus restrictions, recent graduates offered a different perspective from their university lives. @Michael-MiaoX provided a particularly detailed and compelling account of his military training experience in the 吐槽某高校军训 thread. He shared a number of jarring anecdotes, including a story about his roommate’s profound unfamiliarity with urban life and a deeply concerning incident where student assistants were instructed to inspect every student’s phone photo album, including recently deleted files. He also recounted conversations with classmates from Henan, shedding light on the immense academic pressure they face, where even a score of 680 on the Gaokao is not enough to secure a spot at a top university’s main campus. Complementing this, @nocatnozzz continued to document her university journey in 离了我北就觉得我北哪哪哪都更好了, sharing her experiences with everything from professors making minor mistakes in class to being rejected from a preliminary party membership interview after what she described as a “laid-back” performance, amusingly noting that the interviewer, also a Beijing native, “understood.”
The ongoing changes at the school have prompted deeper reflections on its evolving culture and identity. In a blog post shared on the forum, 怕你不看，怕你真看, @suen reminisced about past debates over the role of mentors, connecting them to the current trend of tutors becoming more like traditional, authoritative “class teachers.” This shift has not gone unnoticed by students, with @cnboy expressing a feeling that the school he once knew has been replaced by a “substitute.” A discussion titled 怎麼見面 explored how new rules are impacting student interaction, with @gggggg suggesting that the atmosphere is ultimately shaped more by the people than the policies themselves. The sentiment that the school is moving away from its ethos of independence is a recurring theme, fueling anxieties about its future direction.
Amidst the debates and anxieties, the forum flourished as a vibrant hub for creativity and personal storytelling. User @276213723 was particularly prolific, sharing a series of beautifully written prose pieces, including 白鸟, 冒泡铜花, and an essay on identity titled 漫画人生. They also posted a heartwarming illustrated account of a chance encounter and long conversation with a stranger at a Daoist temple. Other members also shared their creative work, such as @dfeath777’s fictional narrative 羽傳 and @chw’s announcement of a major update to their personal blog. These contributions underscore the forum’s vital role as a space for self-expression and introspection, offering a creative counterpoint to the more pragmatic discussions of school life.
Community and camaraderie were also strengthened through lighter, more social threads. The long-running topic 纸短，情長 continued to be a forum favorite, filled this week with delightful photos of pets shared by @suen, @colas, and @276213723, providing a dose of daily cheer. Humor served as a crucial outlet for stress, with members sharing jokes and memes in threads like 今日份笑話 and 来点梗图. Music-sharing threads, such as the ones for Gw3 and Zz3, also saw lively participation, allowing members to connect over shared artistic tastes. These moments of levity and shared enjoyment are fundamental to the forum’s culture, providing a space for members to relax, laugh, and reinforce their bonds. #卮言
Key Insights and Trends
The Pervasiveness of “Control” as a Central Theme: A clear and dominant trend this week was the community’s heightened focus on issues of institutional control and surveillance. This was not a single-issue concern but a multi-faceted anxiety expressed across numerous threads. The discourse ranged from the control of physical space in the International Department, to the digital restrictions on tablets, and the deeply personal violation of privacy through rumored camera monitoring and in-person device checks. The story of an invasive phone album inspection during university military training resonated strongly, suggesting that these anxieties about autonomy are not confined to high school but are part of a broader societal concern that students are increasingly confronting.
The “Alumni Mirror” and Preparation for University Life: The active participation of recent graduates has created a fascinating “alumni mirror” effect. As current students document what they perceive as a loss of freedom, alumni are simultaneously navigating the realities of true independence at university. The experiences shared by @nocatnozzz, such as the need to challenge professors and advocate for oneself, highlight the practical skills required for higher education. This juxtaposition creates a powerful, implicit conversation about what best prepares students for the future: a structured, controlled environment or one that fosters the very independence that seems to be diminishing.
A Forum for Both Activism and Art: This week highlighted the forum’s dual role as a platform for grassroots reporting and a salon for creative expression. On one hand, threads about school policies function as a real-time chronicle of student concerns, capturing a sense of frustration with a system that feels unresponsive. As one user put it, > “大家都在用珍贵的屏幕使用时间来反馈一个得不到回应的问题” (“Everyone is using their precious screen time to give feedback on an issue that gets no response”). On the other hand, the platform is rich with artistic and literary contributions, from the poetic prose of @276213723 (#8313) to the fictional storytelling of @dfeath777 (#8282), showcasing a deep need for personal expression that exists alongside the political.
Engaging with the Wider World: Discussions were by no means limited to the school’s campus. Members showed a strong engagement with broader societal issues and current events. The follow-up on the Wuhan University library incident sparked a debate on justice and institutional accountability, while other threads covered the corruption investigation of a Peking University official, the dark legacy of “internet addiction” treatment centers, and even a technical discussion about an alleged GFW data leak. This demonstrates that the forum serves as an important space for its members to process and debate the complexities of the world beyond their immediate environment.
Humor and Personal Connection as an Antidote: Despite the prevalence of serious and often frustrating topics, the community’s culture of humor and mutual support remained a powerful force. The simple, consistent joy derived from sharing pet photos in 纸短，情長 cannot be overstated. Memes and jokes, often directly related to the very policies causing stress, provided a crucial release valve and a way to build solidarity. For instance, a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to interrogate a former school official to “excavate” school history brought levity to a quest for information. This resilience and the ability to find shared moments of joy are indicative of a strong and supportive community fabric.
Last edited by @suen 2025-09-22T00:46:39Z