The New York Times describes the town as follows: This is a remote, single-industry town that produces test-taking machines that are as unbelievable as other Chinese towns that specialize in socks or Christmas ornaments – because the country’s most famous The existence of the Maotan Factory Middle School, known as the college entrance examination factory, has been undergoing tremendous changes in the past 10 years in the Maotan factory town located in the depths of the Dabie Mountains in Anhui.
On May 27th, there are still 9 days from the college entrance examination. At 4:40 pm, outside the east gate of the Lu'an Maotan Factory Middle School in the Dabie Mountains of Anhui Province, a group of parents carrying a holding barrel were on the way. They turned their eyes to the campus and waited for the children to come out.
At the same time, the food stalls across the road lined up, the dishes were well-placed and neatly arranged, and the vendors also brushed their eyes to the school gate.
At 5:10 pm, the students are out of school. About half an hour of eating time, the food stalls outside the East Gate are lined up, and the snacks are prepared in advance.
At 5:10 pm, a rush of school bells sounded on the campus. Two minutes later, tens of thousands of students flocked to the gate. Maotan Factory Middle School has 55 high school grades and 61 repeat classes this year, more than 12,000 students, plus high school and high school students, more than 20,000 students, flowing through the East Gate, West Gate and North Gate.
In less than five minutes, students quickly filled the school gates, roads and food stalls. The school gate has become a rice field.
After 20 minutes, the huge flow of people began to return, and the land continued to follow. This kind of scene is going to be played in the town four times a day in the morning, midnight and late night, and this is just a normal day in the town of Maotan, but it is more compact as the college entrance examination approaches.
Along with these tense rhythms, the entire Maotan factory town street shops, more than 10,000 accompanying parents, and even the entire town's economy have turned. In this rhythm, it starts again and again. For more than a decade, the college entrance examination is changing the town. In heavy rain, accompanying parents often wait for children to come out to eat outside the school gate.
Starting at 10:30 am every day, it is the busiest time for accompanying parents. More than a dozen accompanying parents in the collective kitchen are busy cooking lunch.
At the school gate, when the children are eating, the mother is on the sidelines, asking questions and asking questions, and giving the children some comfort.
On the other hand, in the residential building that was just built in the east gate of the school, the two accompanying mothers were waiting for their children to come back to eat.
A group of students are using lunch outside the school. Although there are canteens in the school, many candidates who do not accompany them still like to go out to school.
On May 27th, it was the last month of the third year of high school. After school, the students moved the books back to the rental room.
On May 28th, Maotan Factory held a third-grade monthly exam. This is the last monthly exam. The candidates and teachers are very serious. They even think that the monthly exam ranking basically determines the results of the college entrance examination.
After school in the afternoon, several students ran to the store to make public calls and asked the adults for money. Maotan Factory Middle School is not allowed to carry mobile phones into schools. Some parents simply do not buy mobile phones for students, so public telephones are still everywhere.
A candidate’s dormitory wall is written to encourage himself. Students in the middle school of Maotan Factory are under great pressure, and the important factor comes from strict management. Previously, the media referred to Maotan Factory Middle School as “a year of preparation for a prison sentence”, “a demonized city” and “Hell Middle School Maotan Factory”. This is the only school in China that has no internet cafes, game halls or billiard halls nearby.
"You see the middle side of the Maotan factory, but you don't see the other side!" At the Maotan Factory Middle School, the director of the school said that "we were demonized, arranged from the schedule, we have aerobics, There are singing. Maybe these courses will stop on the eve of the college entrance examination." The picture shows the classroom of the Maotan Factory Middle School at noon.
When reading a book, many candidates are accustomed to use a cardboard to separate from the adjacent seat to avoid mutual interference. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, Maotan Factory Middle School is like a college entrance examination machine. The second and third generation students from all over the country have undergone strict management and modeled study life “forging”. Finally, they are exported to universities across the country under the test of the college entrance examination. . Many students think that taking the college entrance examination may change their destiny. If you want to change your destiny, you should redouble your efforts. If you are worse than others, you should work harder.
In the eyes of teachers, a school should have its own system. The Maotan factory may be stricter, but it is by no means inhuman life. After all, many of the students who went to the Maotan factory to study in the middle school were students with "problem problems" rather than the "top students" who learned from the water. The tutoring centers are all high school students from all over Anhui and even outside the province. This is also one of the largest tutoring centers in China, with more than 5,000 candidates in one building.
For the accompanying adults, in addition to taking care of the children's daily life, there are not many things. In the afternoon and evening, some accompanying parents choose to go to the chess room to pass the time.
A grandmother is watching the local drama to pass the time. For most of the accompanying parents, the time for accompanying the students is very boring.
Fan Xinyun, 18, is reading a book, and Grandma is standing on the side. Fan Xinyun is a sophomore, and her grandmother has been with her for two years.
The 72-year-old Chu Guoping appeared to be bored after his grandson went to school. The old man had been accompanying him for two years at the Maotan factory. His grandson was only a senior year and had another year.
When Chu Qinglong returned to the rental room in the evening, his grandfather was already lying in bed. The first thing he came back was to wash his hair. Chu Qinglong’s rental room has no bathroom and bathroom, but he is used to it.
On the newly built public square in Maotanchang Town, a large number of accompanying parents and locals will dance square dance together at night. Due to the arrival of these accompanying parents, the night life of the town has become richer.
Liang Junhua, 36, opened a garment processing factory on the side of the school. All the workers were accompanying mothers. Liang Junhua said that the garment factory has been in existence for five years and usually closes in the summer.
In the garment factory near the school, it is still working overtime at 9 o'clock in the evening. These accompanying mothers can earn some living expenses while they are working and waiting for their children to leave school.
On the streets of the market town, a handmade shoe store is covered with hand-woven slippers. These shoes are from the hands of accompanying mothers. Shops also teach free to accompany mothers to make handmade shoes.
Affected by the accompanying reading, the rental of houses in Maotan factory town is the main source of income for local residents. Most of the young people go out to work and their houses are also rented out for rent.
The 72-year-old Liu Xiaosan is a local resident of the Maotan factory. The house is next to the school wall. His house is divided into 28 rental houses, and the annual rental income is nearly 300,000.
At the school gate, a woman is renting. The semester is not over yet, and some local residents have begun to plan ahead.
The windows of the dormitory of Maotan Factory Middle School are covered with underwear and socks. The students living in the school of Maotan Factory are mainly in the first year of high school and high school. The seniors are almost all renting outside.
The Maotan factory phenomenon has also attracted many developers. It has been developed into a residential community outside the East Gate. The house price is about 4,500 yuan per square meter, all of which are small-sized. The developer claims to lease the cost for 7 years.
Outside the east gate of Maotan Factory Middle School, a large number of newly built residential buildings have been waiting to be rented. It is estimated that there will be more than 1,600 sets.
The east gate of Maotan Factory Middle School, a commercial street was named "Zhuangyuan Street", and the shops and place names named by the champion in Maotan Factory abound.
In a hair salon called "cutting love" in the town of Maotan, a student is getting a haircut. There are many hair salons in the town of Maotan, and the main customers are students and accompanying parents. The business is very prosperous.
There is an old tree on the east side of the north gate of Maotan Factory Middle School. In the past years, many candidates and parents went to burn incense and pray. In order to prevent accidents, the local authorities had to send a security guard to be on duty 24 hours a day.
A slogan is posted on the outside of the school wall to prevent candidates and parents from coming to burn incense and pray.
In the night of the Maotan factory town Xuefu Road, most of the store will be open until 1 am.
At 11 o'clock in the evening, outside the school gate, 53-year-old Yang Rong made up the money under the weak headlights. Yang Rong is from Dong'ankou in Lu'an. She has been in Maotan for three years. Now her daughter is already a junior, but she still hasn't left the Maotan factory to make up her living expenses for her children.
A grandmother is waiting for her granddaughter to leave school. Among the adults who accompany her, grandparents and parents have it. Although it is already deep, many of them insist on getting some nightingales for their children.
At 11 o'clock in the evening, the candidates who came out of school under the street lights began to get more, but after ten minutes they returned to peace.
After the evening of self-study, various snacks on the road outside the school gate are already waiting.
A candidate was lying in bed after dinner in the evening and was angry with her grandmother, saying that her grandmother’s meal was not good today, and her grandmother could not say a word.
After returning home after the end of the self-study, it has been 11:20. Almost all candidates have to read an hour or more after eating a nightingale.
In the rented room, a candidate at the desk with the words "Couple June" reminds himself that time is running out.
On the school road, in a college entrance examination counseling class, Ding teacher (right) is chatting with a friend. The remedial class has been open for two years, usually one hour of tutoring from 11:00 to 12:00 after the second night of self-study.
At 11:40 in the evening, the tutoring classes in the town of Maotan were also brightly lit, and several students were continuing to participate in the remedial classes for exam preparation.
On June 3rd and 4th, the streets of Maotan Factory will start selling a lot of red T-shirts and underwear with the words “Ma to success” and “I wish you want to become a thing”, forming a unique college entrance examination culture.
On the evening of June 4th, the candidates will gather in the town to release the lanterns and pray. This evening is the busiest night of the year in the town of Maotan.
On June 5th, it was the annual test-taking festival in Maotanchang Town. The whole town was full of people, and it was more lively than the Spring Festival. And these candidates take the car to the final college entrance examination.