The University of Mountains and Rivers (or Shan He Da Xue 山河大学, or SHU) is located on No.1 Shan He Road, in a special administrative region where China’s four northern provinces, Shandong 山东, Shanxi 山西, Henan 河南, and Hebei 河北 intersect. The name Shanhe is a portmanteau of the four provinces, the names of which literally mean ‘east of the mountain’, ‘west of the mountain’, south of the river’ and ‘north of the river’ respectively. In 2023, SHU plans to admit a total of 3.5 million students, out of which 500,000 will be given full scholarships. Unlike other universities where students have to live in dormitory rooms of four to six people sharing communal baths and toilets, students attending SHU will live in air-conditioned, two person rooms, each with its own bathroom and toilet. Although a new university, SHU has ambitions to surpass China’s two most prestigious universities, Tsinghua University by 2026, and Peking University by 2028. Moreover, a draft version of the university charter emphasises democratic rule, stating that ‘all members of the university are equal and administrators must not exercise power arbitrarily.’