Zhao Chen

Can a new, highly secretive graduate program train students to bust corrupt officials? That’s the hope of a one-of-a-kind program at prestigious Renmin University in Beijing, which this June graduated its first class of 24 master’s degree students.

Days after two schoolgirls were killed in a plane crash at San Francisco airport, Chinese social media is filled with tributes, condolences, and anger.

Last week in Jinan, China, more than 1,300 women wearing exquisite make-up and elegant dresses were asked to iron, cook, and tie a necktie. The goal: to qualify for a competition that will match 50 women with 50 millionaires for a blind date this July.

While college-bound American high-school students complain have to sweat through their fair share of tests, nothing in the US compares to the intensity and all-or-nothing stakes of China's dreaded gaokao.