
A UNIVERSITY promotion video has never been this popular in China before. Since January, six months before admission season, many top universities in China have been releasing their well-planned videos to raise awareness and attract students. For Shenzhen University, its video was not among the first releases, but “Where Your Dream Starts” has been attracting national attention since its release date. On June 15, when the 11-minute video was released online, the university’s official WeChat account attracted more than 100,000 views, and the total hits for the video reached more than 5 million in only 10 days. Together with all the reports and discussions on the Internet, the total hits for the video have reached more than 10 million. More interestingly, the lead actress, choreography student Zhang Leyun, is now renowned as a “national goddess.” “If last year’s Peking University video ‘Journal to the Stars’ was a production of idealism, this year’s Shenzhen University video would be a masterpiece of realism. The two videos have perfectly answered the ultimate question for university students — is learning a dream or a reality?” an unknown netizen told a Chinese-language newspaper recently. When Li Xiang, director of “Where Your Dream Starts” and head of the Youth League Committee of the Normal College at the university, was asked to make a promotion video for the university, “Journal to the Stars” was the model presented to him. “That was a great promotion video, but it was not suitable for Shenzhen University. Shenzhen University is very different from the 100-year-old Peking University. More importantly, the two universities have completely different cultures. Therefore, I don’t think it is fair to compare the two videos. Ours delivers a different message from the Peking University video. It focuses more on our students’ spirits and dreams,” Li said. Because of these differences, Li did not make a “regular” video like many other universities. He chose a different angle — a romantic story of a young man finding his dream, friendship and love at Shenzhen University. In the story, Li used 10 “first times” to share a different “Shenzhen University dream” — the first wedding ceremony, the first newlywed couple, the first National College Entrance Examination, the first arrival in Shenzhen, the first arrival at the university front gate, the first encounter with a dream girl, the first class with a brilliant professor, the first joyful memory with friends, the first speech at the graduation ceremony and the first steps into adult life. The entire production team was formed by young graduates and staff from the university. “We wanted the video to showcase three things that set our university apart — the vibrant city, the business-oriented culture and the beautiful campus. It’s like what the lead actress says at the end of the video — it is a dream to meet at the best time of one’s life,” Li said. However, despite all the praise, the video has also caused many heated discussions. “The story is about a young man becoming a CEO and marrying a beautiful girl at the university, which sounds like telling students that Shenzhen University is a place where you can get rich and marry a beauty. This is too utilitarian, not like the university spirit at all,” one netizen said. “Studying astronomy at Peking University is a noble dream, but at Shenzhen University, we have a famous slogan — be earnest and down-to-earth. This is the key to our education,” said Li. “We said in our video that Shenzhen University is a ‘rich’ university. We are not afraid to invest in our students, offer different kinds of scholarships and run business start-up programs for our students. We are a ‘rich’ university that educates ‘rich’ students and attracts ‘rich’ people.” Wang Xin, a professor at the College of Social Sciences, also thinks that “Journal to the Stars” and “Where Your Dream Starts” are not comparable. “Ideals and reality are not in conflict. They support each other. I don’t think that looking at the stars is better than looking at the ground. Both videos inspire me. No matter which path you choose, you are brave,” she said. Despite the discussions and criticisms, the popularity of the video shows the popularity of the university. As a graduate of Shenzhen University, Li thinks that the university is where his dream started. “Shenzhen is where many people’s dreams start, and so is Shenzhen University,” he said. (Wang Yuanyuan) |