In 1999, China decided to increase college entrants, with a year-on year growth of 25 percent from 1999 to 2005. The policy makes higher education more accessible to the public, but also brings many troubles. Students’ employment has become a matter of high concern for the Chinese government as its colleges and universities churn out about six million graduates each year over the past three years.

With the accretion of recruits and consequent decrease in available resources, the colleague students – half fearing the growing competition out there and half aiming high for academic performance – attempted to channel their energies to the postgraduate entrance examination, which had become a recurrent phenomenon in China.

Anything comes in handy when occupying a seat in the classroom.

Their ostensibly hysteria over the seats soon caught the attention of China’s Weibo users, most of which were their contemporaries. An unscientific survey in Sina Weibo showed about 90 percent of the 11,000 voters adopted a disapproving attitude towards the Occupy Seats trends.

User 漂泊者-王宝林 wrote: “#Say No to Occupy Seats Trend# Some students use a pile of books to occupy the seats. But who bought the chairs and desks? First come, first served. If not, the other students can’t find a place to study and it is a waste of public resources.”

User 为二妹心动 wrote: “#Say No to Occupy Seats Trend# The sight of seats-occupying made my gorge rise. Some students will grab four seats even he/she has two books. Both Pens and notebooks come in handy. Some even use their breakfast!”

The few supporters also had their say, with an apparent inclination towards nonviolence.

User 高翊皓 wrote: "#Seats-occupying Is Understandable# First come, first served.The resources are open to the public. If the seats are all taken, hard luck. But you cannot join the group fighting, it is a question of morality."

User ZJ_王锴 wrote: "#Seats-occupying Is Understandable# Because of the unfair distribution of educational resources, we can’t find proper places to study. The blind increase in enrollment is also to blame. It is not the students’ fault, but the people who led them into the campus."

By Xu Xinlei