Precarious arrangement

China's dormitory culture is not that different from the West, but the closer proximity and the turmoil of society at large may provide fertile ground for head-on collisions of personalities or habits so startling and venomous they unnerve a whole nation.

When you have to share a room with someone for three or four years, you are essentially forming a relationship with many of the trappings of a marriage, except that you don't get to choose your partner.

In a Chinese university, students are usually assigned dormitories and a group of as few as four or as many as eight youths will stay roommates regardless of the dynamics.