Prison is generally a place most people try to avoid. But some Internet users are puzzled by photographs that show several prisons located in European style architecture with facilities that they consider luxurious in nature.

Seven prisons, of which two are in Jiangsu Province and five in Guangdong Province, were built about five decades ago and were renovated. Many Internet users criticized the facilities after photos surfaced on their official websites. Some pictures were also posted in the online forum of mop.com, chinanews.com.cn reported Wednesday.

The Yancheng Prison in Jiangsu Province was built with a European-style architecture and has been dubbed the "White House" by Internet users. There are sports facilities inside, common areas that looks like a country club setting and grand entrances in front.

The scenery at the Suzhou Prison sits among winding paths and artificial rivers.

The five prisons in Guangdong Province, including Qingyuan, Yangjiang, Shaoguan and Sihui prisons and the Juvenile Offenders' Department, also have modern architectures.

Most of the Internet users criticized the luxurious environment of the prisons, saying the con-ditions are superior to facilities in schools and some joked that they would like to experience the luxury.

"I will go to Suzhou to commit a crime tomorrow in order to experience the luxurious white house lifestyle. It must be comfortable," an Internet user said in one forum.

Shang Guan, an office worker in Beijing, said he was surprised at the prisons' appearance.

"It is much more humanized than I thought," he said.

Some people feel the buildings are not luxurious. "Modern-style prisons are very common today, these so called ‘luxurious ones' are just ones with better conditions. It reflects the improve-ment of our society, and we should change our stereotype about prisons," said Shan Peng, a resi-dent in Heilongjiang Province.

Chen Tianben, an associate professor at the Chinese People's Public Security University, said prisons today should be like a community or campus, which means good accommodations, office buildings, libraries, playgrounds, canteens, hospitals and other basic facilities are necessary.

"Prisons' main function is to educate and reform criminals, its environment should be similar to a modern lifestyle and society; otherwise criminals would feel isolated and feel difficult to get back to society when they leave the prison," Chen told the Global Times.

"But prisons with superior conditions are not proper, as they won't achieve the effect of punishment and the public would consider them an abuse of taxpayers' money," he added.

An official at Jiangsu Prison Administrative Bureau denied that the prisons exceed standards.

"It's impossible to surpass the national construction standard; better conditions will be helpful to reform the criminals," chinanews.com.cn quoted the official as saying.

A staff of Qingyuan Prison told the Global Times that the architecture of the prison is very shabby, and there is no office building.

A staff of Sihui Prison refused to comment, saying it is confidential.

Prison Construction Standard issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission stipulates that the construction standard be higher than the official specifications in the areas with better economic conditions.