Students wanting to study overseas headed straight for Beijing World Trade Centre's Exhibition Hall last weekend for the International Higher Education Exhibition.
It attracted 250 institutions from more than 20 countries. The organizer estimated the number of visitors at the two-day show to be above 20,000.
"It has been the biggest in number of participating schools since 1999," said Liu Jianbo, speaking for the organizer, the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange.
However, some visitors complained that many of the schools present were selectively unknown.
"I learned from the media that many UK universities were coming. But it turned out that the top 10 big names such as Oxford and Cambridge were absent," said Bu Xiang, a third-year student at Tsinghua University.
One obvious explanation the organizer gave was that "top universities are not worried about admissions."
Yet, UK education was still in the spotlight, with 108 schools, a large portion of the higher education institutions in the country, taking part.
"I have been talking to visitors for the whole day," said Lesley Waldron from City University in London.
"And interestingly enough, before even applying, the most frequently asked question is 'may I change a subject to another?'" Waldron said in a puzzled manner.
City University ranked in the top 50 in the Times Good University Guide last year and hosts about 320 students from China, most working on postgraduate degrees.
Compared with the big UK delegation, only a few American colleges, also less known, took part.
"The visa difficulty in the US may have frightened many applicants. Some students worry about security, too," said Richard L. Kimball, a representative of a California school.
"Things may be better if the embassy becomes more supportive of education." he added.
For the visitors, one obvious change is that there were fewer young faces at this fair.
"There have been some problems that have alarmed parents who begin to realize the harm of sending their children overseas at an early age," explained Shao Wei, deputy director of the Chinese Service Centre.
(China Daily ZHANG HAIGANG 27-02-2003)
