News & Events - Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Five Million Pixel Blocks: SJTU Student Club Meticulously Recreates Xuhui Campus 30+ new and veteran members 800+ days and nights 5,000,000+ pixel blocks

May 30, 2026 Page views: 1893

After two years of dedicated work,
the Xuhui Campus has been recreated in a block-based digital world
and is now available as an interactive electronic map.

The beautiful campus that carries generations of SJTU memories
now shines vividly in the digital realm.

Built from tens of thousands of blocks,
the Old Library stands solemn and majestic,
bridging the past and the present
at the heart of the SJTU cloud campus.

This is the virtual campus project
“Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus”,
launched by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club.

Recreating the 130-Year Legacy of Xuhui Campus, Block by Block

The “Block SJTU” Virtual Campus Construction Project is a three-dimensional digital virtual campus initiative launched by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club in March 2021.

Drawing on technologies such as 3D reconstruction, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, the project aims to build a highly realistic, deeply immersive, and richly interactive 3D digital campus. It enables users to enjoy an immersive “cloud tour” of SJTU and creates a “second space” where young people in the new era can explore the campus across disciplines and boundaries.

Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus Panorama

On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus was officially completed and launched on the University’s official electronic campus map.

With the addition of the Xuhui Campus, the campus landscape of Block SJTU has become even more complete: Minhang Campus embodies the vibrant energy and growth of contemporary SJTU; the Huangpu and Pudong campuses trace the developmental journey of the School of Medicine, carrying forward its legacy from Huangpu and opening a new chapter in Pudong; and Xuhui Campus returns to the very origin of SJTU’s 130-year cultural and intellectual heritage, serving as a shared spiritual home for generations of the SJTU community. With this, all of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s major campuses have now been recreated in the block world and integrated into the University’s official electronic campus map.

Empowered by AI technologies and the concept of a digital twin, Block SJTU is no longer merely a Minecraft-based recreation of the campus. It is gradually evolving into a virtual campus platform that supports campus navigation, cultural communication, preservation of historical memory, and the hosting of online activities.

Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus Is Now Available on the Official Campus Map

Digital Renewal: Preserving Architectural Heritage in the Virtual World

Xuhui Campus is a university campus that spans three centuries and preserves buildings from different historical periods. Every historic structure here is an exceptionally valuable piece of cultural and architectural heritage.

How can the century-old red bricks, weathered by time, continue to be seen, remembered, and told about in the digital age?

Members of the Classes of 2024 and 2025 have offered an SJTU answer born of the digital-native generation: bringing these historic buildings into the world of Minecraft.

The creation of Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus is more than a game save file; it is also an exploration of how traditional architectural preservation can be integrated with digital technology. Through pixels, SJTU students preserve the passage of time and transcend the limits of physical space. Wherever they may be, alumni can return “home” with a single click through Block SJTU, once again strolling beneath the tree-lined paths of Xuhui and experiencing the living spirit of their alma mater across its 130-year legacy.

Scan the QR Code to Experience the
Block SJTU · Xuhui Campus Electronic Map

Supported by its continuously evolving virtual campus platform, Block SJTU has expanded beyond campus recreation to become a richer space for online activities. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club has also collaborated with the University History Museum in the Wenbo Building to provide miniature models of SJTU buildings for the public joint seal-carving exhibition “Imprints of SJTU · Siyuan Sentiments”, held in celebration of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s 130th anniversary. By transforming digital architecture into tangible miniature models, the project brings SJTU memories within reach.

Selected Block SJTU Stamps on the Second Floor of the Wenbo Building University History Museum

Passing the Torch:
Rooted in 130 Years of Heritage, Striding Toward the Future

Behind Block SJTU lies the collective effort of new and veteran members of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club, together with faculty advisors from various fields.

Since the launch of the Block SJTU project, generations of SJTU students have carried it forward. Veteran members have passed on their experience in architectural recreation, collaboration standards, and project memories to new members, while new members have continued to advance the project with fresh technical perspectives and creative enthusiasm. Through this voluntary relay inspired by the SJTU spirit of “gratitude for the source of one’s blessings”, the project has continued to grow and has gradually become a campus cultural practice created by and for SJTU students.

Under the guidance of veteran members, students from the Classes of 2024 and 2025 took the initiative to shoulder the main task of recreating Xuhui Campus. They consulted historical materials, compared architectural details, adjusted proportions, and refined every element, carefully building their understanding and love for their alma mater into the block world, piece by piece.

Beyond “Block SJTU”: Exploring New Possibilities

In fact, Block SJTU is only one part of the long-term exploration carried out by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club. Centered on digital content, open-source technology, and campus culture, the club continues to expand the possibilities of creative practice.

In terms of technical development, SJMCL, a Minecraft launcher independently developed and open-sourced entirely by club members, is the first Minecraft launcher among Chinese universities to support AI Agent / MCP services.

Since its release, the project has attracted wide attention from the community, with more than 2,000 community commits, over 500 GitHub stars, and more than 200,000 views on its promotional video on Bilibili.

From product design to feature development, and from open-source collaboration to community operations, SJMCL not only demonstrates the software development and project implementation capabilities of club members, but has also become an important bridge connecting Minecraft communities across different universities. These achievements have also enabled the club to continue building experience in areas such as software copyright, open-source community development, and collaborative development among universities, providing technical support for university Minecraft communities to jointly create a more open, creative, and future-oriented digital cultural experience.

Homepage of SJMCL, the Club’s Self-Developed Minecraft Launcher

Over the course of its long-term development, the club has also gradually established a complete AI-powered virtual campus construction workflow centered on “precise reconstruction and immersive experience.” Focusing on areas such as 3D point clouds, virtual reality scene modeling, and digital campus construction, the project team has continued to explore a full-process approach covering real campus data collection, architectural structure reconstruction, scale calibration, detail refinement, and immersive presentation. These efforts have led to more than ten patents and academic papers, including “A Virtual Reality Scene Modeling System and Method Based on 3D Point Clouds,” providing strong technical support for the continuous iteration of Block SJTU.

Beyond its technical accumulation, the club also records this construction journey through its biannual journal, Orthogonal Square and Circle. More than just a club publication, it serves as a space for preserving project experience, member creations, and campus memories. The meticulous refinement of architectural details, practical insights from AI-assisted modeling, shared memories from the server, and observations and reflections on campus life can all be written, shared, and preserved here.

From technical workflows to content documentation, and from virtual campus construction to the accumulation of community culture, Block SJTU has gradually developed into a campus digital culture ecosystem that integrates engineering practice, cultural communication, and youth expression.

Selected Pages from the Club Journal Orthogonal Square and Circle

In science communication and educational outreach, the club has explored ways to connect virtual construction, digital campuses, and real-world educational settings. During the “Block Qian Xuesen Library · Young Curators” summer camp hosted by the Qian Xuesen Library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the club used block-based voxel construction to support teaching and learning. Through hands-on building activities, young participants were guided to learn more about SJTU, understand the spirit of scientists, explore exhibition design and storytelling, and strengthen their collaborative skills. In this way, the virtual campus is no longer merely an object for online exploration. It has also become an engaging vehicle for science education, opening a new window for young people to understand university campuses, the spirit of science, and digital creativity.

Along this direction, the club has continued to participate in a wide range of science communication and educational activities, including the science popularization fair at the Shanghai Natural History Museum, the Jiao Xiaomiao Science and Technology Carnival, and the Digital Intelligence Fair of East China Normal University. It has also extended these practices into broader efforts in online cultural development. The club’s achievements have been featured on Dragon TV’s program Future China: AI Season and included in online cultural initiatives such as “Youthful Chapters · Youth in Full Bloom” organized by the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission. Its related outcomes have also covered multiple areas, including outstanding research projects of the “Qingzhi” University Student Think Tank, excellent works of SJTU’s online cultural projects, and the “Haipai · Carrying Heritage” themed joint exhibition. Through both practice and research, the club has contributed ideas and insights to the development of SJTU’s online culture.

With Heart as Bricks and Love as Tiles,
Building Dreams Block by Block and Connecting Worlds Beyond

Looking ahead, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Minecraft Club and the Block SJTU project team will continue to tell the stories of SJTU, preserve and write the cultural memories of the SJTU community, and keep creating an ever more dynamic and beautiful SJTU world.

The blocks are still being placed,
and the story is yet to be continued.