Despite a policy focus on educating the whole child, China continues to struggle with a culture of testing, placing a premium on academic knowledge to the detriment of a more well-rounded curriculum. Students are overworked, lack adequate sleep, and have little time for anything beyond school work. The Chinese Ministry of Education has enumerated the problems associated with test-oriented education, including an overemphasis on preparing students for tests, a reliance on rote memorization and mechanical drills, and lack of creativity. Although recent curriculum reforms and a new national college entrance exam promote the importance of "quality education," few schools and teachers have fully adopted the approach. Efforts to educate the whole child can only bear fruit when China drastically reforms its college admission system to expand admission criteria beyond student test scores on a limited number of subjects. (Contains 1 endnote.)