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''Harvard Girl'' (full title ''Harvard Girl Liu Yiting: A Character Training Record''; ) is a book written by Liu Weihua () and Zhang Xinwu (), which describes how they raised their daughter, Liu Yiting (), to be accepted to Harvard University. Published in 2000 in Chinese by the Writers Publishing House, the book details the rigorous lifestyle that Liu led and includes advice from Liu's parents on how to raise children to gain acceptance to top-tier universities; it has been described as a "manual" for child-rearing and early education.〔 The book was a bestseller in mainland China and made both Harvard and Liu Yiting household names among Chinese parents and students. It has since had numerous imitators, spawning an entire genre of how-to books on child-rearing for Chinese parents. ==Liu Yiting== Liu was raised in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Liu's parents, believers in the value of early childhood education, subjected her to a rigorous education beginning when she was only 15 days old. For example, to ensure that someone was always talking to Liu, they invited relatives over to the house. They also had her participate in "character-building" physical exercises such as swimming, jumping rope, and holding ice in her hands for extended periods of time.〔 In addition to these activities, Liu acted in a soap opera when she was five years old. While in high school, Liu participated in a student exchange program and visited America in 1998. This experience changed her views about life in America—like many Chinese citizens, most of her impressions about America came from Hollywood, and when she came to the country she was "surprised that () didn't see any street fights or police-car chases".〔 The program also piqued her interest in American universities,〔 where she realized she would be able to study a variety of subjects.〔 Although they had been training her to attend a preeminent university, Liu's parents had not expected that she would attend an American one; her mother has said that she had not been aware (until Liu came back from America) that Chinese students could apply to American universities. At the time, it was unusual for Chinese students to attend American schools as undergraduates—most only applied to schools abroad for postgraduate education.〔 But rather than taking the ''gaokao'' (China's national college entrance examination) and attending one of the National Key Universities, Liu applied and was accepted to several schools (including Harvard, Columbia, Wellesley, and Mount Holyoke), from which she ultimately chose to attend Harvard.〔〔 Not long afterwards, a local newspaper announced her acceptance and the family was "besieged with thousands of phone calls".〔 At Harvard, Liu majored in applied mathematics and economics and earned high grades;〔 she also chaired the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, a student organization.〔 She was described as "unassuming" and a "typical student", to the point that it took her roommate four years to realize Liu was a celebrity in China.〔 In 2003, Liu graduated and took a job at the Boston Consulting Group in New York City.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harvard Girl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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