THIS Black Mirror-style boarding school in China where children can "waste time mindfully" has been named the world's best building.
Students at the "free-thinking" Huizhen High School in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, can unwind in the serene campus after being indoctrinated in Xi Jinping's party-controlled education.
Designed to blend indoor and outdoor spaces, the ultra-modern building features an open-air lecture hall and tree-lined pathways, as well as study facilities for the 30-class school’s students.
It also has a rooftop park, treehouses and elevated walkways in a "floating forest".
Approach Design Studio and the Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group are behind the creative approach to the school's architecture.
The design firm said that while teaching prioritises efficiency, a school’s campus should inspire free thinking.
It should also let students “release stress, adjust their body and mind and discover beauty” outside the classroom, it added.
Huizhen High School won the title of 2023's World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore, beating other 250 shortlisted projects.
It comes after Xi Jinping's already fully-controlled education will be even more targeted to support China's drive for technological self-reliance.
In a literal approach to "knowledge is power", the Chinese president also wants to use education to enhance the country's soft power and attract more international students, reports.
He stressed the importance of the ideology work in education to ensure students always “listen to the party”.
“[We must] focus on strengthening the education of socialist core values, guide students to establish firm ideals and beliefs, always listen to the party and follow the party, and devote themselves to the country and the people,” Xi said.
He went on to say that China needs to improve its textbook "management" so that Beijing could "firmly grip" the right political orientation and values in its education system.
Xi also advocated for more precision in the development of the higher education industry.
“[We should] dynamically adjust and optimise the disciplines of higher education [and] train urgently needed strategic talents in a targeted manner,” he said.
The Chinese president stated that it is critical to properly employ world-class educational resources and innovative features to create an appealing global education hub.
In its bid to improve technological power, China also launched the world's fastest internet connection - and it is three times the speed of its nearest rival in the US.
The backbone network can transmit data at an insane speed of 1.2 terabits per second - equivalent of transferring 150 films per second.
Almost every backbone network in the world operates at just 100 gigabits per second - including the ones in the US that do at 400 gigabits every second.
The achievement of this remarkable feat also destroyed expert forecasts that said 1 terabit per second networks would not emerge until around 2025.
A collaboration between Tsinghua University, China Mobile, Huawei Technologies, and Cernet Corporation saw the development of the ambitious infrastructure that spans over 1,860 miles of optical fibre cabling.
It connects Beijing in the north, central China’s Wuhan and Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong - and is part of China’s Future Internet Technology Infrastructure (FITI).
FITI is a project 10 years in the making and the latest version of the national China Education and Research Network (Cernet).
