In the wider context of national growth and investment in higher education in China, more mature students seek to gain access to university education. Considering the far-reaching socioeconomic and political shifts in contemporary China and its higher education sector in particular, this study explores the experience of mature university students in this country and poses the seemingly simple question as to why these students did not pursue higher education when they were school-leavers, but chose to study at a mature age. Drawing on biographical interviews with 20 Chinese mature university students, the paper explores their aspirations, motivations and tribulations behind embarking on higher education. Revisiting Bourdieu's ideas on 'inherited' and 'acquired' cultural capital and examining the related Chinese cultural notion of "mianzi" ('face'), it is argued that family and social networks are decisive factors in mature students' orientation towards higher education.