"Alternate location schooling" ("yidi banxue"), a special measure adopted in China to advance ethnic minority education and especially basic education, adheres to the principle of providing focused educational support in Tibet and Xinjiang and giving consideration to education in ethnic minority regions nationwide. Since the founding of the People's Republic, and particularly since the mid-1980s, the Party and the state have gradually increased financial investment in, and policies tilting toward, ethnic minority "alternate location schooling"; steadily increased the scale of alternate location schooling; and accelerated the pace of alternate location schooling. This article will, on the basis of describing several forms of ethnic minority alternate location schooling, conduct a preliminary analysis of the problems existing in them. The experts and scholars concerned are respectfully invited to offer criticism and comments. (Contains 1 table, 3 notes and 1 footnote.)