Editor's note: What makes a story unique and engaging to read, exactly? As we get closer to the end of 2023, a year globally speaking suffused with natural and man-made crises and most distinctively with machine-made essays, music, and illustrations, it's worth celebrating that AI has not yet learned how to produce authentic and humane pieces. In terms of storytelling, "Sometimes it's only in the process of writing that you discover your original ideas," argues Ted Chiang, in a dismissive essay about the AI-generated output.

It is by the spirits of authenticity, originality, and, sometimes necessarily, fallibility that student journalists with PKU News carry on telling and retelling first-hand campus-wide stories, big and small, crafting an imperfect yet constantly evolving atlas of the University. Here are some of the articles they have penned this year, handpicked by PKU News' staff editor. 

∆ Feature | Journey to the West in the classroom

March-April

∆ Profile | Prof. Yu Longchuan: Teaching brings me joy

∆ China in My Eyes | Niki Qiu’s ‘aimless’ adventure to Xiamen

∆ Jackie Chan, among cast of action comedy 'Ride On,' visits PKU

∆ April Color Palettes: Peking University in rainy haze

∆ World Book Day | Reading makes me_____.

∆ The joy of being a “professional reader” – A glimpse into Profs Chen Pingyuan and Xia Xiaohong’s study

May-June

∆ PKU125 | Alum Fan Jinshi donates 1.45 mln USD to support Dunhuang studies