Food delivery university dilemma: Great meal or tidy campus?

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China’s Guangxi University of Foreign Languages has announced a ban on food delivery services and disposable food boxes on campus and in dormitories.

The students don’t seem happy. A long queue snakes from the university canteen at lunchtime, local media reported on Monday, and online users have jokingly likened the overwhelmed cafeteria to a "ticket window during Spring Festival."

The Paper said students believed their school hadn’t improved food facilities since implementing the ban earlier this month.

Photo via The Paper

Students: An inconvenient life without food delivery

The youngsters, many of whom have long been used to ordering food online or bringing takeaway to their dorm, are struggling to adapt.

"It’s such a short lunch time, I don’t fit in well with the ban," said a junior-year student, citing a busy school schedule.

Some said being forced to hold a plate in the cafeteria "restrained their freedom" as college students.

Others chose to sneak takeaway food into dorms despite the rule, which was implemented in part because the school’s cleaners found it hard to keep the rooms clean and in order.

Photo via Wikipedia

School: Good for physical and mental health

Su Junlv from the school’s Student Affairs Office said the ban was intended to help students develop a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally, as well as to strengthen their environmental awareness.

Su said students were often sedentary when not in class, opting to spend a whole day in the dorm playing video games, watching TV soap operas and ordering online food.

In response to criticisms of the crowded school canteen, Su said steps would be taken to improve the current situation and meet students’ needs.

A dorm keeper surnamed Huang said she believed cleanliness on campus had improved since the announcement, with rubbish bins in the dormitory building no longer packed with disposable tableware and leftovers that were "so smelly."

Photo via The Paper

A sweeping ban across the country

Bans on food delivery are increasingly common at colleges in China, with concerns centering on food quality, environmental problems and road safety.

Several universities in central China’s Hubei Province and southwest China’s Yunnan Province have banned delivery vehicles from entering the campus, and divided apartment buildings as "restricted zones" to prevent hidden dangers to students.

Photo via The Paper

The Logistics Department of Dalian University of Finance and Economics unveiled a school policy that caused a buzz online earlier this year, punishing students who were found to order food online with a three-day power cut in their dorms. It offered a reward of 500 yuan (83 US dollars) to those who reported people who ordered food.

Photo via The Paper

The prevalence of food delivery on campus

Almost 90 percent of students at Yangzhou University said they ordered food, often on a weekly basis, according to an October survey. Similar statistics were seen at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics in 2016.

One bizarre incident in March saw a student pulling ordered food through the window of her fifth-floor dorm room with a rope at Henan University of Technology.

With more of the younger generation holding smartphones in their hands, food delivery is simpler than ever for students -- and the row over takeaway food on campus is set to rage on. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section on our social media accounts @CGTN!