This week, millions of Chinese high school students will take the two-day college entrance exam, or gaokao. When I took that grueling test in 2009, I had been told since I was a small child that it would be the most important task I ever completed. For generations of Chinese -- and this still holds true for thousands living in rural China today -- a college education was their one ticket to success and upward mobility. Failure meant no degree, poor job prospects and a life full of regret. So I studied hard, got into key junior and high schools, and hoped to get into a good university in Beijing. To study what, I didn't know. Read more
