Suzhou is one hour to the West of Shanghai, and one of China's most interesting cities, famous for its silks, canals, and scholar gardens. According to a popular legend, Marco Polo is reputed to have said, "In heaven there is paradise, and on earth, Hangzhou and Suzhou." As the city rapidly expands, the issue of early childhood education is a serious part of development discussions. As of 2006, there were 380 kindergartens in Suzhou, of which 263 were public (Wang, 2006). Local governments may encourage the development of kindergartens by waiving three years of rent on buildings and land, by holding open auctions, by defining the services to be provided and the costs to parents, and by guaranteeing teachers' salaries and benefits. The pressure on kindergartens is particularly heavy at the moment because children born in 2007--an especially auspicious year in the Chinese calendar--are now turning three. The author features two schools in Suzhou, China, namely (1) Xinzhou School, a public kindergarten that serves children ages 3-6 and averages 35 children to a classroom; and (2) Ping-Pong School, a hybrid model (a collaboration between the government and developers) and also a private school that serves 448 children ages 3-6 in 12 classrooms, with two teachers and one assistant for each classroom.