Chinese colleges extend spring break, urging students to ‘fall in love’

A number of vocational colleges in China are offering students an extended spring break while encouraging them to experience nature and pursue love — a move that has been interpreted by some on Chinese social media as a bid to boost the country’s falling birth rate.

The week-long break is an expansion of China’s one-day national holiday for the Qingming Festival, where families clean the gravestones of their deceased relatives and make offerings.

Nine colleges affiliated with the…