Chen scored 702 points out of 750 in the college entrance exam and came in first in science in southern China's Fujian province. And because of her high mark, she became the focus of local media by doing many interviews and giving speeches.

But the teenager did not consider this achievement to be a good thing. "Sometimes I thought if I did not come in first in the exam, I wouldn't need to face so many problems and get so much attention," she said.

One of the biggest issues for her was the large amount of money her middle school and local social organizations awarded her.

Chen got a 10,000-yuan scholarship from her former middle school, Zhangzhou No. 1 Middle School, 20,000 yuan from the municipal government and 100,000 yuan from a local property company's scholarship program for top students.

But the 130,000 yuan in scholarships was not all she got. Zhuzi Ci, a non-government foundation in her hometown of Nan'an city rewarded her with a 50,000-yuan scholarship as the model for local students.

Xu Yimin, vice chairman of Zhuzi Ci Foundation, said they discussed several times on how much money they should give Chen. The purpose of offering such a large amount of money was to let people realize the importance of education and encourage more students to study hard by following Chen's example as a contribution to society.

However, this posed a difficult dilemma for Chen's family. On the one side, Chen received a full scholarship for further study from Zhangzhou city; so if she accepted the 550,000 yuan, people may criticize her for taking more money; on the other side, if she refused to take the money, she may upset people in her hometown.

Finally, Chen's family told principals of the Zhuzi Ci Foundation that they wanted to donate the money to the local Southern Star Middle School, where Chen's parents graduated from. Though the foundation was moved by the decision, they insisted Chen not to donate all of the money, for she could use some of it for further study. There were also concerns the scholarship would lose its original meaning of awarding her for her achievement if she donate it to a school. So after much persuasion, Chen decided to donate 500,000 yuan to her parents' middle school.

In late July, Chen donated the money to Southern Star Middle School and won much praise for her charity. She said she appreciated her hometown but could not accept the big scholarship on her own. By donating money, she hoped she could do something to help educate local talents.

This sparked off an intense debate on whether to award a top student much money.

Wu Qichao, another vice chairman of Zhuzi Ci Foundation thought talents are worth the money.

"In the first beginning, we talked about offering Chen 100,000 yuan, but some members said Nan'an is a rich city now, this money is too little for a top student in our province. So after much discussion, we decided to give her 550,000 yuan."

He also said many locals agreed with this decision for it showed their awareness of the importance of education. Some even say if another local student becomes the top one in the college entrance exam in the future, he should be awarded more money.

The president of Southern Star Middle School Chen Bin echoed Wu's opinion. He thought top students should be rewarded for their academic achievements as a way to encourage their peers to study hard.

But many web surfers believe it is more meaningful to fund poor students in remote areas rather than one who came in first in the college entrance exam. Some think 680,000 yuan is too much for one student, as the same amount of money can fund the university tuition fees for over 10 village students.

Another vice chairman of Zhuzi Ci Foundation named Xu Yimin disagrees with these netizens. He believes a big scholarship helps build the confidence of good students and establish them as models for other students. And there are other foundations that fund poor students in the city as well.

Liang Cisheng, deputy director of Nan'an Education Department said they neither support nor oppose this kind of charitable act by non-government foundations, since no education officials are involved. As long as these organizations fund students within their capabilities, proper awards are acceptable in the city.