Some are left alone, like 81-year-old Zhang Meiling, who sits sadly in a tiny one room house in Beijing.

CNN: As enriched China ages, families strained

In front of the school on Wednesday, as students exercised in their blue-and-white track-suit uniforms, 18-year-old Zhang Tianyu said he wasn't deterred.

WSJ: Parents of China Victim Get U.S. Visas

Thanks to increased income, his children were freed up to attend the university, said the 53-year-old Zhang, whose own education ended with high school.

CNN: 'Green' revolution under way in rural China