Entrance to Peking University

Peking University is one of China's most prestigious educational institutions, attracting more than its fair share of visitors.

Along with Tsinghua University, another top learning institution in the country, Peking University has become a must-see in tour packages.

It is common to see busloads of parents and grandparents showing children around the campus perhaps hoping that they would one day be lucky enough to enroll in the elite university.

But the university has had enough of being a tourist attraction it has banned all tour groups from the campus, according to the China Daily.

The exceptions are individual visitors and groups of high school students organized by educational institutions as long as they secure permission from the university's security department three days in advance.

Tsinghua University has not announced any ban on campus tourism.

According to a notice posted on the Peking University's website, the move is intended to maintain order on campus.

Peking University's western gate and the street in front are always crowded with photo-snapping tourists to the point of traffic snarls. Inside the campus are vendors peddling T-shirts, drinks and souvenirs to tourists.

While tourists feel aggrieved, students in the university applauded the ban.

A student remarked that going the western gate is like walking into a farmer’s market, the China Daily reported.

Students also complained about the noise with some tourists talking loudly near classrooms.

A man who opposes the ban noted that the university was built with taxpayers’ money and people should be allowed to tour their children in the campus.

The Peking University is the university of all Chinese people, a professor from another university remarked in a report by the Beijing Morning Post.

Many tourist agencies around China provide tour packages to prestigious universities.