If you want to understand Chinese society, education is perhaps the best place to start. And Chinese education is all about the gaokao, the college entrance examination. With The Highest Exam, Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li have done a remarkable job of combining their personal stories with eye-opening statistics and analysis of the larger system. This is an important, thoughtful book.--Peter Hessler, author of River Town and Oracle Bones

Explain[s] why the test so dominates China's education system and society. The authors direct this lively and informative volume at foreign readers who want to learn about gaokao culture, elements of which might appear in local American schools as large numbers of Chinese students go abroad to study.--Maura Elizabeth Cunningham "Wall Street Journal" (9/5/2025 12:00:00 AM)

In this well-written and thought-provoking book, Jia and Li explore the means by which the gaokao shapes family life, politics and society in China. The authors draw on their own personal experience to show that it allows those from underprivileged backgrounds to rise to important academic positions, as well as to the top of social, economic and political life...The Highest Exam is the definitive account of the gaokao and should be read by all those who want to understand Chinese society.--Daniel A. Bell "Literary Review" (12/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

China is unique in many ways, but we don't know which aspect is the most significant. This book proposes that its examination culture is the key, opening up a whole new way of thinking about the economic differences in the world. Profound and fascinating in equal measure.--James A. Robinson, Nobel laureate and coauthor of Why Nations Fail

China's nationwide college entrance exam, which looms large over the life of students and families, is rarely discussed in depth outside the country. Now, Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li examine the roots and implications of this exceptional Chinese institution, expanding the discussion in unexpected ways and demonstrating its global significance. Drawing on their own life stories, they offer an account that is moving, personal, and often even funny. Highly recommended.--Barry Naughton, author of The Chinese Economy

In this fascinating book, Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li combine their professional expertise as economists with their personal experiences of studying in China and parenting in the US to examine the Chinese education system, which they characterize as a centralized hierarchical tournament. They show how it both shapes and reflects Chinese society--and increasingly influences the education experience in America as well.--Alvin Roth, Nobel laureate and author of Who Gets What--and Why

Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li have written a remarkable book that combines history, data, and personal experience to paint a unique, deep, and rich portrait of the Chinese education system and its culture. They show us not only its implications for China, but how it sheds light on education beyond China and its role in society.--Matthew O. Jackson, author of The Human Network

Paints a landscape of vast inequality passing itself off as meritocracy--an exposé of an increasingly powerful global nation and a warning to any society, east or west, that still believes in teaching to the test...[this] detailed history of China's educational testing system illuminates the nation's values in a competitive world.-- "Kirkus Reviews" (5/15/2025 12:00:00 AM)

[A] fascinating study.--Elizabeth Economy "Foreign Affairs" (12/16/2025 12:00:00 AM)

[A] compact but ambitious new book...Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li give their English-speaking readers a guided tour of China's elite (re)production factory against the backdrop of the country's development and globalisation.--Frank Yuan "Inside Story" (1/7/2026 12:00:00 AM)