Cover story from the Beijing Review:<\/p>\n
Cen Cheng, a primary school student in Beijing, is only seven years old, but, at his parents’ direction, he is already making preparations for entering university 10 years from now.<\/p>\n
Recently, he has begun to wake up on his own around 5:20 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., he begins a half-hour long-distance run outdoors or on the treadmill at home. He clearly knows that he’s doing exercise, not playing.<\/p>\n
At 7 a.m., he hoists his school bag, which weighs at least 3 kg, on his back to go to school. He arrives home before 5 p.m., and begins his homework. <\/p>\n
At 7 p.m., while having supper, he watches CCTV<\/a> news. Actually, he wants to watch cartoons, but it’s an extravagant hope for him that can only be realized on Saturdays (for two hours only)… After that, he finds time to study English or recite ancient poems. [Full Text<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
“When he was one and a half years old, we began teaching him the ABCs,” Cheng’s father Cen Jun said proudly. He hopes his son can grasp two or three foreign languages in the future. “When he is 10, I’ll let him attend training courses for the Math Olympics<\/a>.”<\/p>\n
Dr. Liu Jin, a Ph.D. from the Center of Mental Health under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, said, “It’s the most conservative estimate that there are only 30 million children in China suffering from various mental problems. This figure has been used for many years and it’s just an estimate. Now the number may reach 50 million.” She further pointed out that China has never conducted a nationwide survey and that the figures are estimates based on local surveys.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
See also Beijing Review’s “Parents’ Dilemma<\/a>“: Families are beginning to wonder whether their young children are paying too high a price to achieve superior test scores; and “Children at Risk<\/a>“: Feelings of shame, parental ignorance and a lack of trained psychiatrists lead to a failure to deal with youngsters’ psychological problems at an early stage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cover story from the Beijing Review: Cen Cheng, a primary school student in Beijing, is only seven years old, but, at his parents’ direction, he is already making preparations for entering university 10 years from now. Recently, he has begun to wake up on his own around 5:20 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., he begins a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,5],"tags":[207,3386,227],"class_list":["post-7998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-society","tag-children","tag-childrens-pressure","tag-education","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cover story from the Beijing Review: Cen Cheng, a primary school student in Beijing, is only seven years old, but, at his parents’ direction, he is already making preparations for entering university 10 years from now. Recently, he has begun to wake up on his own around 5:20 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., he begins a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Digital Times (CDT)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"186\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"177\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Zhao\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Zhao\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Zhao\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/74a70b794a1771465ab87c2c4741bf18\"},\"headline\":\"Pressure Cooker – Tang Yuankai\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\"},\"wordCount\":341,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"children\",\"children's pressure\",\"education\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture & the Arts\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\",\"name\":\"Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pressure Cooker – Tang Yuankai\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times (CDT)\",\"description\":\"Covering China from Cyberspace\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"width\":186,\"height\":177,\"caption\":\"China Digital Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cdt\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/74a70b794a1771465ab87c2c4741bf18\",\"name\":\"Michael Zhao\",\"description\":\"Michael Zhao graduated from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where he produced an in-depth multimedia thesis on electronic waste dumping from the rich world to developing countries. He also made a short documentary on the same topic, available on his personal site. He now works at Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations as a multimedia producer in New York. Michael worked for the New York Times Beijing Bureau as a reporting assistant from 2003-2005. He graduated from the Beijing Language & Culture University with a bachelor's degree in English. He co-authored a book on learning Chinese language and culture, Urban Chinese: Mandarin in 21st Century China. Michael was born and grew up in Wuhan, China.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/michaelzhao.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/michael-zhao\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai","og_description":"Cover story from the Beijing Review: Cen Cheng, a primary school student in Beijing, is only seven years old, but, at his parents’ direction, he is already making preparations for entering university 10 years from now. Recently, he has begun to wake up on his own around 5:20 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., he begins a […]","og_url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/","og_site_name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","article_published_time":"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":186,"height":177,"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Michael Zhao","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cdt","twitter_site":"@cdt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Zhao","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Zhao","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/74a70b794a1771465ab87c2c4741bf18"},"headline":"Pressure Cooker – Tang Yuankai","datePublished":"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/"},"wordCount":341,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["children","children's pressure","education"],"articleSection":["Culture & the Arts","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/","url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/","name":"Pressure Cooker - Tang Yuankai","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2006-06-11T15:01:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2006\/06\/pressure-cooker-tang-yuankai\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pressure Cooker – Tang Yuankai"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","description":"Covering China from Cyberspace","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization","name":"China Digital Times","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","width":186,"height":177,"caption":"China Digital Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","https:\/\/x.com\/cdt"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/74a70b794a1771465ab87c2c4741bf18","name":"Michael Zhao","description":"Michael Zhao graduated from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where he produced an in-depth multimedia thesis on electronic waste dumping from the rich world to developing countries. He also made a short documentary on the same topic, available on his personal site. He now works at Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations as a multimedia producer in New York. Michael worked for the New York Times Beijing Bureau as a reporting assistant from 2003-2005. He graduated from the Beijing Language & Culture University with a bachelor's degree in English. He co-authored a book on learning Chinese language and culture, Urban Chinese: Mandarin in 21st Century China. Michael was born and grew up in Wuhan, China.","sameAs":["http:\/\/michaelzhao.net"],"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/michael-zhao\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}