China's education performance - at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong - seems to be as spectacular as the country's breakneck economic expansion, outperforming many more advanced countries.
中国教育，至少上海和香港这两个城市的教育，和这个国家极速扩张的经济一样令人叹为观止，远超过很多发达国家。
But what is behind this success?
这样的成功背后是什么？
Eyebrows were raised when the results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's international maths, science and reading tests - the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests - were published.
当经济合作与发展组织（OECD）的数学、科学和阅读测试——国际学生测试项目（Pisa）结果发布时，众人皆惊。
Shanghai, taking part for the first time, came top in all three subjects.
首次参加该项目测试的上海，在三项测试中均为第一。
Meanwhile, Hong Kong which was performing well in the last decade of British rule, has gone from good to great. In this global ranking, it came fourth in reading, second in maths and third in science.
与此同时，过去二十年的英联邦制度下发展良好的香港项目测试由良转优。全球排名如下，阅读第四，数学第二，科学第三。
These two Chinese cities - there was no national ranking for China - had outstripped leading education systems around the world.
没有中国的国别排名，这两个城市代表中国超越了其他国家的教育系统。
The results for Beijing, not yet released, are not quite as spectacular. "But they are still high," says Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education statistics and indicators.
北京的测试结果没有公布，据说不很震撼。“但他们的成绩还是很不错，”安德烈亚斯 施莱克尔，OECD的教育数据与指导部门主任说。
Cheng Kai-Ming, Professor of Education at Hong Kong University, and closely involved in the Hong Kong and Shanghai tests, puts the results down to "a devotion to education not shared by some other cultures".
港大教授程介明，深入参与了本次香港和上海的测试，将结果归结于“其他文化不可比拟的对教育的热忱”。
Competitive exams
竞争力的测试
More than 80% of Shanghai's older secondary students attend after-school tutoring. They may spend another three to four hours each day on homework under close parental supervision.
超过百分之八十的上海中学生参加课后辅导，在父母的监督下他们每天在功课上多花三到四个小时。
Such diligence also reflects the ferociously competitive university entrance examinations.
这种努力同样表现在残酷的高考考场上。
"Not all Chinese parents are 'tiger mothers'," insists Prof Cheng. "But certainly they are devoted to their children's education."
“不是所有的中国父母都是‘虎妈’，”程教授坚持说道，“但是他们都会对孩子的教育特别用心。”
Certainly both these open and outward-looking cities set great store by education, willing to adopt the best educational practices from around the world to ensure success. In Hong Kong, education accounts for more than one-fifth of entire government spending every year.
诚然，这两个开放的城市都认为教育非常重要，希望通过世界范围内最好的教育以确保城市的繁荣。每年，香港的教育支出占到整个政府支出的五分之一强。
"Shanghai and Hong Kong are small education systems, virtually city states, with a concentration of ideas, manpower and resources for education," says Prof Cheng.
程教授说：“上海和香港都是小规模的教育系统，实际上类似城邦，集中拥有智力、人力和各类教育资源。”
The innovation in these cities is not shared by other parts of China - not even Beijing, he says.
程教授还提到，这两个城市的出色表现不代表中国其他地区，包括北京在内。
Under the banner "First class city, first class education", Shanghai set about systematically re-equipping classrooms, upgrading schools and revamping the curriculum in the last decade.
在“一流的城市，一流的教育”这样的口号下，上海在过去的二十年里系统地改造校舍、升级学校和修订课程。
It got rid of the "key schools" system which concentrated resources only on top students and elite schools. Instead staff were trained in more interactive teaching methods and computers were brought in.
一改往日精英学生和顶级学校掌握资源的重点学校模式，取而代之以训练有素掌握互动教学方法的教师队伍，并且多媒体教学进入课堂。
Showcase schools
橱窗学校
The city's schools are now a showcase for the country. About 80% of Shanghai school leavers go to university compared to an overall average of 24% in China.
上海的学校成了中国的展示窗口。上海80%的高中毕业生进入大学，这个比例在中国全国范围内只有24%。
Meanwhile, dynamic Hong Kong was forced into educational improvements as its industries moved to cheaper mainland Chinese areas in the 1990s. Its survival as a service and management hub for China depended on upgrading knowledge and skills.
与此同时，活力十足的香港从上世纪九十年代开始因为工业转移至劳动力便宜的大陆而被迫进入了教育改革。作为为中国服务并管理而存在的香港，不得不提高文化水平和技能。
In the last decade Hong Kong has concentrated on raising the bar and closing the gap or "lifting the floor" for all students, says a report by McKinsey management consultants.
根据麦肯锡的一份报告，过去二十年，香港致力于平等接受全部学生。
The report, How the World's Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, rated Hong Kong's education system among the best in the world.
这份名为《世界最好的学校系统如何更好》的报告把香港的学校系统列为全球最优。
But Hong Kong schools are undergoing another huge reform, lopping off the final year of secondary school and instead moving towards four-year university degrees from 2012 to align it with China.
但是香港的学校目前页面连重大改革，即位与大陆一致从2012年开始取消中学最后一年以求转为四年大学课程。
Abandoning the old British model is a gamble and no-one knows how it will play out in terms of quality.
舍弃英联邦旧制是一场赌博，没人知道最终的结果会怎样。
Top teachers
顶级的老师
However, Hong Kong believes it has laid solid, unshakeable foundations.
然而，香港坚信自己的教育基础稳固无可撼动。
"In the late 1990s we moved to all-graduate [teachers]. If we want to have high achievement, subject expertise is very important for secondary schools," said Catherine KK Chan, deputy secretary for education in the Hong Kong government.
“上世纪九十年代末，我们的老师已经全部拥有学士学位。如果我们想做的更好，学科专长对于中学来说尤为重要。”香港政府教育秘书凯瑟琳陈小姐说道。
Hong Kong, like Singapore, now recruits teachers from the top 30% of the graduate cohort. By contrast, according to the OECD, the US recruits from the bottom third.
香港，和新加坡一样，从毕业生的前百分之三十种雇佣老师。根据OECD，与此相反，美国是后百分之三十。
Shanghai recruits teachers more broadly. But it is already a select group.
上海的教师来源广泛，但是也有一定的限制。
Shanghai controls who lives and works in the city through China's notorious "houkou" or permanent residency system, allowing only the best and the brightest to become residents with access to jobs and schools.
上海通过中国臭名昭著的户口体系控制居住和工作的人们，只允许最棒的人群成为能够在这座城市工作和学习的居民。
"For over 50 years Shanghai has been accumulating talent, the cream of the cream in China. That gives it an incredible advantage," says Ruth Heyhoe, former head of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, now at the University of Toronto.
香港教育学院前校长，现任职于多伦多大学的鲁斯介绍：“过去的五十年里，上海聚集了大量的精英，这给了上海无与伦比的优势。”
Migrant children
移民的孩子
The OECD's Mr Schleicher believes teacher training has played a part in Shanghai's success, with higher-performing teachers mentoring teachers from lower-performing schools, to raise standards across the board.
OECD的施莱克尔先生认为，教师培训在上海的成功中发挥了作用，高水平教师到底水平的学校指导教师，整体提高了地区的教育水平。
"What is striking about Shanghai is that there is quite a large socio-economic variability in the student population, but it does not play out in terms of its Pisa results," said Mr Schleicher.
“上海学生的社会经济多样性令人关注，但是在Pisa的测试结果中没有体现。”
"Some people have even suggested we did not include Shanghai's fairly large immigration population. Around 5.1% of the population are migrants from rural areas. Their children are definitely included," he said.
“我们并没有把上海庞大的新移民纳入考察范围，大约有5.1%的新移民来自农村，他们的子女并没有被测试。”
Last year Shanghai claimed to be the first Chinese city to provide free schooling for all migrant children. This year migrants outnumbered Shanghai-born children for the first time in state primary schools, making up 54% of the intake.
去年，上海宣布成为中国第一个为新移民子女提供免费基础教育的城市，今年这些新移民子女第一次和上海本地孩子一样在公办学校上学，占到总数的54%。
Prof Cheng agrees the Pisa results reflect a broad cross section. However the majority of migrant children are below 15 - the age at which the tests for international comparisons are taken. It is also the age of transfer to senior secondaries.
程教授认为Pisa的测试结果能反映了大致情况。大部分新移民子女的年龄小于15岁这个测试年龄，也是上高中的年龄。
"If they were allowed to attend senior secondary schools in the city, the results would be very different," said Prof Cheng.
“他们如果被允许在上海上高中，那么结果会非常不同。”
Even now "to some extent, where people are born largely determines their chances of educational success", said Gu Jun, a professor of sociology at Shanghai university.Their societies are changing rapidly and for both Shanghai and Hong Kong, being top might prove to be easier than staying there.
“现在，某种程度上，出生地决定了他受教育的情况。”上海大学社会学系教授顾军说道。
上海和香港变化很快，都在试图证明这个城市适宜居住。
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