About 600 freshmen and sophomores will move into the new Pudong "campus" of NYU Shanghai this weekend.

The 15-story NYU Shanghai "campus" on Century Avenue, near Pudong’s Lujiazui area, is set to welcome its first intake this weekend. — Xinhua

Unlike most universities, the school on Century Avenue comprises just a single, 15-story building, mirroring the design of its sister facility in the Manhattan district of New York, United States.

Despite its physical irregularity, the building has all the facilities expected of a modern university, including a library, gym, cafe and dance studio.

Likewise, each floor of the building is equipped with either lounges or chairs in the corridors, on which students and teachers can sit and chat. It also has rooms where students and teachers can interact in private after class.

"What we want is to create an environment in which students and teachers can bond," said Chancellor Yu Lizhong.

"But if a student has a problem, he or she can come to me directly at my office on the 14th floor," he said.

Yu said he is also in talks to have some lessons held at other nearby venues, such as the Yuan Shen Sports Center, Shanghai Oriental Art Center and Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

"Although the teaching building looks like all the other office buildings from the outside, ours has many spotlights inside," Yu said, without elaborating.

NYU Shanghai opened last year as a partnership between New York University in the US and East China Normal University in Shanghai. Half of its students are from China and the rest from different countries around the world.

The first batch of about 300 students spent their first year at the downtown campus of East China Normal University while their new vertical home was under construction.

Of the 294 freshmen, 151 hail from China and the rest from 44 other nations. About half of the foreign students are from the US, while almost two-thirds of this year's intake are women, said Zhao Zhongjian, associate dean of the university's arts and science school.

The university declined requests by journalists to ask the students what they thought of their new home.

The freshmen will register tomorrow and embark on a three-week orientation course before beginning their studies next month.

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