Judge 1108,

To respond to a couple of your points...

The buxiban is often there to help them with these sorts of exams, so it's not conflicting with their study time. For the middle class, extra tutoring may only be for those who couldn't get high marks on the gaokao, but for the wealthy, such tutoring is standard.

There is also a difference between the poor and the migrant workers in China. Poor students can still qualify for many government benefits, but migrant workers and their families are not eligible for many of the benefits where they live because they do not have hukou (residence certificate) for that area.

As you mentioned, your friends were from average backgrounds, so it makes sense that they did not get the tutoring we describe. We are talking about the wealthy Chinese.

You are right that the situation in Taiwan is different from that in China, but that is mainly because the Taiwanese are more wealthy, so a greater percentage can send their kids to the buxiban. The market is also a lot more developed in Taiwan, but it's growing quickly in China as well. The Shanghai Municipal Education Commission has even put an informal moratorium on new buxiban because it's worried about the rate at which the industry is growing.