Top universities swamped by tourists

Every summer, crowds throng campuses to get a closer look

As the students at China's top universities go home for the summer, many tourists head in the opposite direction to get a glimpse of the hallowed halls of education.

Tsinghua and Peking universities are two of the most popular tourist attractions in Beijing during the summer holidays, not only because they were established on the sites of former royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) but also because they are leading institutions of higher education.