Admission：Impossible

　　A closer look at China’s “gaokao factories” and the price of a good education

　　When Hengshui in north China’s Hebei Province was among the country’s poorest cities in late 1990s， no one could have imagined a high school there would go on to make it a national gem.

　　On June 23， Hengshui High School posted the results of its students in this year’s national college entrance exam， or the gaokao， online. Of the top 10 students with the highest liberal arts scores in Hebei， nine were from this school； six of the top 10 science scorers were as well.

　　Hebei has roughly 2，000 high schools， yet this school alone is responsible for educating more than half of the students in the province who go on to study at national key universities， known as China’s Ivy League. Take Peking University and Tsinghua University， China’s top two schools， for example. A regular high school would be happy to send two or three students there， but in 2013， Hengshui High School alone sent 104 students to those two universities.

　　No pain， no gain

　　“Military-style management” is the modus operandi at Hengshui High School. Students get up at around 5：30 a.m. and don’t go to bed until 10：10 p.m. They spend the entire day in classes， with three meal intervals of no more than 40 minutes each.

　　Wang Xianhang， a 2011 graduate from the school， measured the thickness of all the exam papers she filled out in her three years there—they reached a whopping 2.4 meters high， or 7.9 feet.

　　Videos showing how students study in the school have been spread online. In the videos， students recite from books even during the morning run. Workbooks pile up so high on desks that students’ heads sink in a sea of colorful bindings.

　　“Horrible” is the word that many netizens have used to describe the videos， wondering， “What is the point of this kind of school life？”

　　But for most students studying here， life is not as harsh as portrayed in the videos. “It is an unavoidable process if we want to pass the gaokao，” said a student at the school， who declined to be named. “No pain， no gain.”

　　With its record of outstanding scores， Hengshui High School has become the de facto education capital for Hebei students， who fight intensely for a spot at the school. In 2014， the number of students there taking the gaokao surpassed 4，000.

　　A Hengshui student surnamed Sun， who took the gaokao in 2013， said， “There were 110 students in my class. About 70 of those students were from outside the Hengshui area.”

　　“The top students who should be at my school have all been taken away，” said a high school teacher from Cangzhou， another city in Hebei， on condition of anonymity. “Before 2000， we still had students getting into Peking and Tsinghua universities， but since then we have had none. The serious lack of good students has caused an existential crisis for my school.”

　　But there’s a reason Hengshui High School has become such a sought-after place. “Normally students transferring from other schools can see a remarkable rise in their test scores after coming to this school， and some can even get a rise of more than 100 points，” said Xin Jinhuan， a teacher from the school. Considering the gaokao has a total of 750 points， 100 more can make a world of difference.

　　Xiong Bingqi， Deputy Director of Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Institute， once said that the way Hengshui High School operates exemplifies the approach to high school education taken in many places in China， just by different degrees. As long as success on the gaokao is the end goal， if not the only goal， the fate of students from underdeveloped places will not change.

　　Maotanchang High School is another such “gaokao factory” in a small mountainous town in Liuan City， east China’s Anhui Province.

　　In 2013， 11，222 students from the school sat for the gaokao， and 9，258 of them， or 82.5 percent， scored high enough to enter college.

　　Students here follow almost the same schedule as that at Hengshui High School.

　　Maotanchang Town， where this school and one other， Jin’an School， are located， is almost a dead city during summer and winter vacations. The population trickles to a mere 5，000. But when the schools are open， the number of residents rockets to 50，000， including students and the parents who come along as “studying companions.”

　　“It’s unbelievable，” said 19-year-old Zheng Hanchao， a student in the town. “The town has the same ability to switch modes as a cellphone： Sound on or off.” There are usually more than 100 students squeezed into every classroom， where teachers use loudspeakers to address the class.

　　Founded in 1939， Maotanchang High School went through many different iterations and underwent several name changes. By 1999， however， it had become a key high school in Anhui.

　　Over the past decade， Maotanchang and Hengshui high schools have each maintained a college enrollment rate of above 80 percent of graduates each year.

　　But the exam scores from Hengshui are far more outstanding than those from Maotanchang. The students who scored highest from the latter in 2014 only ranked at 270th and 60th positions， respectively， in liberal arts and science in Anhui.

　　Economic engine

　　With a growing number of non-local parents moving temporarily to Maotanchang， hotel and real estate industries have undergone massive development in the small town in recent years.

　　The average annual rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment in Maotanchang has exceeded 12，000 yuan ($1，934)， with the cheapest places going for some 4，000 yuan ($645) and the most expensive ones costing more than 20，000 yuan ($3，224) annually.

　　As a result， earning 200，000-300，000 yuan ($32，240-48，360) in a single year is not unusual for local residents， so long as they have apartments to rent out.

　　In addition to taking care of their children， many parents work in the town’s clothing shops and manufacturing plants， providing an abundant workforce for local companies.

　　According to Yang Huajun， a local official， several large clothing companies plan to set up manufacturing plants in Maotanchang. “We never worry about labor shortage，” Yang said proudly. Not many years ago， the town struggled economically， subsisting on selling tea and bamboo products.

　　In Hengshui， a similar boom has also taken place over the last several years.

　　The other side

　　In December 2013， a 17-minute-long movie entitled Blossoming Dreams was uploaded online. A movie directed by and featuring students from Hengshui High School， it shows a life on campus far different from the one imagined by outsiders.

　　The four main characters in the movie， two boys and two girls， are classmates. One girl loves to draw—even during classes—and dreams of becoming a cartoonist， while the other， who sits beside her， fears public speaking. Despite that， she dreams of one day becoming an accomplished orator. One of the male students， with a crush on the second girl， keeps encouraging her to take part in the school speaking contest. From a poor family， the fourth character spends all his time in rigorous study. His dream？ To attend the best university in China.

　　For viewers， this movie provided a mind-blowing glimpse into daily life at the school. Many reacted in surprise. “A crush on a girl？ I thought that was forbidden in military training camps！” “Drawing cartoons in class？ I heard even bringing oranges into the classroom warranted punishment！”

　　“People who say Hengshui High School is a sweatshop just lack real-life experience there，” said Chen Siyu， a 2011 graduate of the school. “The criticism always comes from people who know very little about it.”

　　Chen was accepted by Beihang University in Beijing， one of China’s best polytechnic universities， and is very grateful for what she learned during high school.

　　“I was motivated by the school’s inspiring culture，” Chen said. “We were all encouraged to do our best and show others how well we were getting along. I dare to speak louder in public now and learned the virtue of perseverance after my study there. The school is tolerant of different students’ interests and holds various activities to tap into their wide potential.”

　　Guo Ning from the school is the highest liberal arts scorer on the gaokao in Hebei this year. She is a cartoon lover and has written fairy tales on her blog since primary school.

　　In recent years， the school has also promoted exchanges with foreign high schools and sent students and teachers overseas for short-term educational trips.

　　Li Jinghua， an English teacher in the school， used to visit Britain and the United States regularly for training. “The advanced teaching methods that have been adopted in our classes have proved to be quite effective in raising the students’ English proficiency，” Li said.

　　While in the eyes of Xiong who once visited Hengshui High School， it is still an exam-oriented cramming school. “Although they’ve organized some activities out of the classes， the big chunk of the students’ time is still contributed to prepare for the gaokao and you cannot say it is a balance，” Xiong said on June 29 in a program of the state broadcaster China Central Television.

　　Kang Jian， a professor at Peking University’s Department of Education， echoed with Xiong. “Hengshui High School has no rivals in the province and this has forced every high school to copy its training method to follow up and this is no good for the students， who should have more choices of education methods，” he said.

　　By Yuan Yuan