Sun Yilin, a Tsinghua University freshman living in poverty, had been busy keeping pigs as the freshman registration on Wednesday approached. He scored 710 points in this year's gaokao (50 bonus points included), or China's college entrance examination, and received an admission letter from Tsinghua on July 23.

Sun, 18, grew up in a village of Luanchuan county, Henan province. His parents are both farmers and support the family by farming, raising pigs and taking odd jobs. As a child, he started working alongside his parents.

"My family's financial condition has been pretty bad. Besides helping my parents with their work, I also find some time to earn living expenses part-time as a family teacher during every summer vacation," he said.