Which university, and what it actually costs to get in — not the prospectus version.

Photo: Jiawei Gao

A rule-based gate, in a city that rations almost everything else the same way.

Photo: Alicja Ziajowska

The most international campus in the series: still gated by an interview, not a price tag.

Photo: Chenyu Guan

Named for a revolutionary who trained in English. The gate still runs on a Chinese-language test.

Photo: Quan Jing

The youngest city with the newest university.

Photo: Ling Ze

No C9 name to trade on. Just a 985 flagship in a city most applicants have never seen.

Photo: Adhrit Subedi

It's built by state fiat.

Photo: Wang Tianfang

Founded in 1949 to engineer a new nation.

Photo: Zohaib Sultan

Its top university pulls students in from across the world.

Photo: Spencer Gu · Northwest A&F University

A 1956 relocation that didn't ask anyone's opinion, and a degree that now asks something different.

Photo: Di Weng

One of China's most comprehensive universities, in a city where tea hills meet tech money.

Photo: Hsinkai Tai

China's most-photographed campus for three weeks a year, and a serious research university the other 49.

Photo: Icoookies · Nanjing Forestry University library

Older than Fudan, outside the spotlight, a 1902 founding now facing a brand-new entrance exam.

Photo: Yu Gui

A modest global rank hides world-class marine science.

Photo: Zhaoli Jin

Founded in 1958, China's only university named for a craft.

Photo: Woo Winter

Founded in 1921 by an overseas Chinese businessman's own fortune — not a ministry.

Photo: Quan Jing

The region's only 211 and Double First-Class school.

Photo: Yichuan Li · Yunnan Normal University

Founded in 1923, it's the only 211 and Double First-Class university in Yunnan.

Photo: Iris Yue

Founded in 1900 by American missionaries. The same outside-institution pattern that built the city's factories.

Photo: Wen Guanghua

The southernmost university campus in China, opened in 2021.