Based on a 16-month qualitative study, this article documents the diverse guanxi practices used by private tutoring entrepreneurs in Chongqing, China. It reveals how these entrepreneurs leverage their social connections to support their businesses. Informed by Karl Weick's theory of organising, we argue that guanxi practices are sensemaking processes that benefit entrepreneurs but may have adverse effects on the education market, policy regulation and education equality. This study contributes to and integrates sensemaking theory, guanxi theory and the literature on shadow education by conceptualising the practice of guanxi in the context of the private tutoring industry as a form of sensemaking. It also informs policymakers seeking to improve the regulation of the shadow education industry.