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In last week's newsletter we learned how high school students in Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Henan are frustrated with the severe lack of top universities to choose from in their provinces.
This week, we look at how parents and kids in another province, Shaanxi, are dealing with a consequence of those problems.
Parents in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, are seeking answers from local education officials over claims that thousands students taking this year’s high school exams (zhongkao 中考) were from other provinces.
Footage circulated online of parents protesting outside government buildings. Their demands:
Kids in Xi’an also need an education!
西安娃，要上学
The controversy comes after the city announced zhongkao results last Friday.
Rumours have circulated that up to 40,000 of the around 100,000 total zhongkao takers in Xi’an were students from other provinces - in particular neighbouring Henan province. This has made many parents in Xi'an furious.
事情的起因是有传言称，2023年10万西安中考生中，有多达4万的“回流生”，这些考生多来自河南。这一传言让不少西安家长愤怒 [1]
These “returning students” study in Xi’an even though they live in other provinces, thanks to a policy introduced in 2017 to attract young talent to the city.
It's confusing, but this is the official explanation:
The so-called "returned students" in Xi'an's senior high school entrance examination refers to candidates who have their household registration in Xi'an, their school registration in other places, but they take exams in Xi'an. [1]
所谓西安的中考“回流生”，是指户籍在西安，学籍在外地，但又在西安参加考试的考生。 [1]
Xi’an and Shaanxi have much better schools and universities than neighbouring Henan. So some families from that province are abusing the 2017 policy, moving their registration to Xi’an (even though they don’t live there), to get their kids into better schools outside of Henan.
Parents in Xi’an say that for every place taken by a “returning student” from another province, is one less spot available for a child from the city.
From elementary school to junior high school, and then to high school, every step is full of hardships and bitterness. So naturally, we can't tolerate the returning students who swoop in to steal top spots from local students.
从小学到初中、高中，一关一隘无不艰难辛酸，自然无法容忍半路杀出来截胡的回流生。
But this is not just a problem for parents in Xi'an; it's an issue with education across China known as "immigrant test takers" 移民考生 yí mín kǎo shēng.
Immigrant test takers are kids whose families move them to other provinces through legal loopholes to improve their chances of getting higher scores in their zhongkao and gaokao exams.
Immigrant test takers are not a new thing. It started twenty or thirty years ago, where familes changed their household registration and school status in advance, studied in provinces with better resources for three years in high school, and finally took the college entrance examination in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hainan and other provinces, giving them an unfair competitive advantage in admission.
移民考生并不是什么新鲜事，二十年前、三十年前就有，提前把户口和学籍迁出去，高中三年在内地大省学习，最后参加新疆、西藏、海南等省份高考和录取，以期实现不对称竞争优势 [2]
So, that's what we explore this week!
Favourite Five
1. 钻空子 zuān kòng zi
exploiting legal loopholes
西安终于对那些钻回流生空子的机构和人员动手了 - Xi'an is finally taking action against those institutions and individuals who exploit legal loopholes in policies to attract returning students from other provinces. [3]
Related:
擦边球 cā biān qiú "an edge ball", which means to exploit a loophole
打开缺口 dǎ kāi quē kǒu - find a gap, to exploit a loophole
2. 回流生 huí liú shēng
returning students returning from another province
与陕西接壤的河南地级市三门峡，在此次传言中被西安家长认为是“回流生”的主要生源地 - Sanmenxia, a prefecture-level city in Henan province adjacent to Shaanxi, is considered by Xi'an parents in this rumor as the main source of returning students. [1]
3. 半路截胡 bàn lù jié hú
snatching someone or something halfway; robbing opportunities of others
从小学到初中、高中，一关一隘无不艰难辛酸，自然无法容忍半路杀出来截胡的“回流生” - From elementary school to junior high school, and then to high school, every step is full of hardships and bitterness. So naturally, we can't tolerate the returning students who swoop in to steal top spots from local students. [2]
Note: This is a technical term from the game, Mahjong, for a certain way to win the game. Read more in this week’s China Project Phrase of the Week.
4. 悔青了肠子 huǐ qīng le cháng zi
regret - green - intestines; to be filled with remorse
那么孩子西安的高中上不成，又没参加河南的中考，也会悔青了肠子 - So if their child can't get into a high school in Xi'an, and also didn't take the Henan high school entrance examination, their parents will be filled with remorse. [2]
Note: A colloquial phrase which translates as “your intestines only go green when you’ve died”, meaning to deeply regret something that’s happened.
5. 翻了个底朝天 fān le ge dǐ cháo tiān
to completely expose, turn something upside down
西安“回流生”事件，将教育不公揭了个底朝天 - The Xi'an "returnees" incident completely exposed the injustice in education. [3]
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 掐尖 qiā jiān
pinch; select the best students from other places
有传言称，部分西安高中为保升学率，到河南中学“掐尖”，通过“回流生”策略将其吸引至西安 - There are rumors that some high schools in Xi'an select the best students from middle schools in Henan through the "returning students" strategy to keep a high university enrollment rate. [1]
Note: Usually to improve the overall performance or ranking.
7. 挤占 jǐ zhàn
occupy, squeeze, or encroach upon
这进一步引发西安家长对优质教育资源被挤占的不满 - This further triggers dissatisfaction among Xi'an parents over high-quality educational resources being squeezed. [1]
8. 辛酸 xīn suān
bitter and distressing, full of hardships
从小学到初中、高中，一关一隘无不艰难辛酸，自然无法容忍半路杀出来截胡的“回流生” - From elementary school to junior high school, and then to high school, every step is full of hardships and bitterness. So naturally, we can't tolerate the returning students who swoop in to steal top spots from local students. [2]
9. 黎民 lí mín
common people, ordinary folks
网上平地而起的“山河大学”，不正是数亿山河黎民子弟堆积而起的期待和盼望么 - Isn’t "Shanhe University" that emerged online the embodiment of all the expectations and hopes from hundreds of millions of common people across the country? [2]
10. 洼地 wā dì
depression, low-lying area; areas with lower college enrollment rates or education resources compared to other regions
比如“山河”省份高考洼地问题，如果在录取数量、高校建设等方面加大倾斜力度，自然能够逐步减缓焦虑压力 - For example, in the "Shanhe" provinces, if we increase enrolment quota and build more colleges, this will help release the pressure and address the issue of low college enrollment rates in certain regions. [2]
11. 疽痈 jū yōng
ulcer, a severe problem or malady
西安“回流生”事件并非孤例，而是教育疽痈的集中爆发 - The Xi'an "returnees" incident is not an isolated case but rather an outbreak of the ongoing and unresolved issues in the education system. [2]
Related: 沉疴 chén kē - perennial problem. These are similar but different: 疽痈 emphasises on the severity of the issue while 沉疴 on it existing for a long time.
12. 羸弱 léi ruò
weak, feeble, inadequate
最少没有法律和政策上的对与错，错就错在河南高考资源太羸弱 - At the very least, there is no right or wrong in terms of laws and policies; the mistake lies in the fact that the tertiary education resources in Henan are too weak and inadequate. [3]
13. 死扛 sǐ káng
resist or endure tenaciously, to stubbornly hold on or persist
考生数据是张嘴就来，西安教育局看样子准备死扛到底 - The Xi’an Education Bureau named the candidate number without any proof. So it seems that they are going to stubbornly stick to their position. [3]
Three-character phrases
14. 摆不平 bǎi bù píng
unable to resolve or settle
