Let's have a rest.

I don't think I ever mentioned, but we have an afternoon break at school that lasts from 11:35 to 2:00. They do this so everyone can have time to eat lunch and "have a rest" - which means take a nap. It used to be that classes began again at 1:45 on North Campus and 1:30 on South Campus, but now that it is hot they figure they need more of a rest. I am so glad that the Chinese love to nap and make it a daily activity, or at least set aside time for it. If you have errands to run, papers to grade, or classes to prepare for you can do that as well. I think it is necessary that they have this time to rest since they wake up so early and work all morning then well into the evening.
Having a rest in the afternoon, or after any activity, seems common throughout China. But an interesting thing that I believe is limited to this school, is that we don't have janitors. The students stay in the same classroom all day and are responsible for keeping it clean. Every other Monday they do a thorough cleaning with mops, rags, windows, etc. The other Mondays they clean their dormitories. This must cut back on costs for the university. I can't imagine if they told us we had to mop and clean the windows of our dorms in America.
The students get graded on the cleanliness of their classrooms and these grades are posted outside the teaching building. Their regular school grades (as a class) are also posted. Each individual will get a grade, but their grades are averaged (somehow, I'm not sure of the process) and that grade is posted for everyone in the school to see. Everyone in each class knows who the worst and best students are in each subject; there doesn't seem to be any privacy.
From talking with friends I've learned that collective grading is not limited to this university but also happens in high schools across China. It is quite a contrast to American schools where grades are treated as top-secret information and evaluation is given on a completely individual basis.
Does it make students work harder to know that their good or bad grades affect not only them but also their classmates? I don't know if the class grades are recorded on their report cards or files; if they mean anything at all or have any lasting consequences, but they do have some influence on the effort students put forth. This system of grading seems to be an extension of the peer-driven culture that they live in fueled by the pressure to both excel and conform.