A town living on the college entrance exam

One small town in the eastern province of Anhui became so successful at running cram schools that it became known as the country's "Gaokao Factory".

Every year, hundreds of thousands of high school graduates in China who failed to secure a place at a desirable college, would go to special schools to study for the Gaokao for an entire year. One small town in the eastern province of Anhui became so successful at running cram schools that it became known as the country's "Gaokao Factory".

From June to August, Maotanchang is pretty much a ghost town. But come the end of August, the town swells from 5,000 residents to more than 50,000. Most are students coming to study and prepare for the college entrance exam.

The influx of 50,000 people every year has raised the town's fiscal revenue to nearly 15 mln yuan, four times its neighboring town. With 80% of students at its top two high schools achieving the required grade to enter college, it appears that whatever Maotanchang is doing is working.