# Beyond the Gaokao: A Mother Discusses Paths to Tsinghua University

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2069400009913606337
- Source account: [@liaoping2020](https://x.com/liaoping2020)
- Source language: Chinese (China)
- Target language: English
- Duration: 2:33
- Published: 2026-06-24
- Machine translated. Check the original before quoting.
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university
- Original-language version: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/zh-cn/%E9%AB%98%E8%80%83%E4%B9%8B%E5%A4%96%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E4%B8%8A%E6%B8%85%E5%8D%8E-%E4%B8%80%E4%BD%8D%E6%AF%8D%E4%BA%B2%E8%B0%88%E5%8D%87%E5%AD%A6%E6%B8%A0%E9%81%93%E4%B8%8E%E8%87%AA%E6%88%91%E6%88%90%E9%95%BF.md

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university) Besides the Gaokao, there are 32 other ways to get into Tsinghua.

[0:06](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=6) How? I only found out the day before yesterday.

[0:11](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=11) It's just that… the moment I found out, I felt…

[0:16](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=16) I was angry. I felt as if, for the past 32 years, I had been kept in the dark.

[0:23](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=23) Two years ago, I happened to meet a girl.

[0:26](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=26) She got pregnant around the same time as me.

[0:28](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=28) Not long after she found out she was pregnant, she went to the US and stayed there until she gave birth before coming back.

[0:38](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=38) From the surface, based on my understanding at that time, maybe it was just for a US green card.

[0:46](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=46) I thought, "What's so good about a US green card anyway?"

[0:49](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=49) Right. Only later did I find out. That feeling…

[0:53](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=53) I don't know if it was anger, or maybe I was angry at my own ignorance.

[0:58](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=58) Didn't I say that besides the Gaokao, there are 32 other ways to get into Tsinghua?

[1:02](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=62) One of them is the special policy for students from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and international students.

[1:12](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=72) That is, if you are a non-Chinese citizen, a foreign national, you have special policies to get into Tsinghua.

[1:22](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=82) You don't have to study yourself to death to get a score of around 700.

[1:27](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=87) At that moment, I felt like for the past 30-plus years, I had been completely kept in the dark.

[1:34](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=94) The education we received since childhood was: "You must study hard, you must work hard," "so that you can get into Tsinghua."

[1:40](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=100) Actually, there are many other ways. There's also participating in winter and summer camps, targeted training, and competitions.

[1:51](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=111) 32 ways in total. If you hadn't mentioned it today, I wouldn't have known either.

[1:54](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=114) But this information is all public. It's not like you need a special identity or some special channel to be able to see it.

[2:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=124) It is public. It's just that I only found out in my 30s.

[2:09](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=129) That's the gap. At that moment, I realized my horizon and my cognition determine my son's baseline.

[2:20](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3KkMkxx71CFl/en/beyond-the-gaokao-a-mother-discusses-paths-to-tsinghua-university?t=140) So I don't push my kid. If I want to bring him to a broader platform, I have to push myself.