An overview of postsecondary education in the People's Republic of China is presented, based on the experiences of 38 visiting U.S. community college faculty members and administrators who met with Chinese educators at several college campuses in July 1987. First, the paper explains the differences in curricula and admissions for the following three sectors of Chinese post-secondary education: (1) four-year regular universities, which because of lack of space and resources can only accept a small percentage of qualified students; (2) advanced professional and vocational schools with 2- and 3-year curricula, which generally admit students with work experience for tuition-paid advanced study in their field of employment; and (3) newer polytechnic colleges, which are similar to U.S. community colleges. Next, the paper describes several colleges, including the Beijing Short-Term College of Economic Management and Finance, which focuses on instruction in economics, finance, accounting, and administration; Harbin College, a polytechnic operating under the authority of the municipal government; Heilongjiang University, a comprehensive university with an evening division teaching applied principles in administration, business management, library administration, applied mathematics, chemistry, optics, computers, microcomputers, and languages; and Guangzhou University, a comprehensive short-term college with an adult education division designed to train middle and top-level managers. The final sections describe China's Television Universities, which since their establishment in 1979, have served more than 590,000 full-time and 400,000 part-time students. Concluding remarks highlight problems and advances in Chinese education. (MDB)