In this article, the authors focus on a poor rural area in northwestern China and investigates whether the gender attitudes of mothers can be linked to their plans for educating their own children in the future. Using recent longitudinal data from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF), a survey of rural 9-12-year-old children, families, and schools in Gansu province, the authors explore whether mothers' attitudes toward gender equality and old-age support, their expectations of future returns from children, mothers' perceptions of a child's promise for continuing schooling, and the child's actual school performance are linked with mothers' educational aspirations for the child, controlling for family characteristics. The authors' main findings suggest that mothers' attitudes about gender equality are closely tied to their educational aspirations for their children. Mothers' aspirations have a strong impact on their children's school persistence, controlling for other family characteristics. (Contains 13 footnotes, 5 tables, and 4 figures.)