Facial recognition and bathtime bookings: How China’s universities are reopening

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. — Reuters

BEIJING: 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.

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