The Chinese character "biang".[Photo from web]

Complex Chinese character 'biang' helps deter tardiness

The Chinese character "biang" has more than 50 strokes and is believed to be one of the most complicated. Now it has become a tool to deter tardiness at a college in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, ecns.cn reported on Wednesday.

Students who are late for classes will have to write the character 1,000 times as punishment. One student so punished, surnamed Cheng, said that she could not bear to write it anymore when she reached the 200th time because of its extremely complicated structure and asked the teacher for forgiveness.

Wang Sijun, the instructor who developed the punishment during a visit to Shaanxi, believes it's also a way to promote Chinese culture among students.

The character originates in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, and refers to a chewy local noodle dish.