Tsinghua University took prospective students off guard on Friday with some modern twists on classic interview prompts designed to get them thinking outside the box.

Interviewers grabbed attention during interviews with questions about complicated news items, such as comprehension of the "gravitational wave" discovery made in February, to pun-heavy Internet memes of cartoon penguins floating on "friend-ships."  

The top-ranked school was among many across China quizzing students with quirky questions as part of independent recruitment tests that provide a second chance for applicants to shine after the notoriously rigorous gaokao.

Topics range from Internet memes to literary trivia, all of which aim to get students talking about their opinions and defending them.

"What is your opinion on the A4 waist challenge as a beauty standard?" Sichuan University interviewers asked, referring to the social media trend of measuring slimness to the width of a piece of paper.

Nanjing University admissions officers were more provocative - "How would a rooster and a hen talk to each other before the hen lays eggs?"

Some seemed to have no point. "How many monsters are there in Journey to the West?" asked interviewers at Fudan University in Shanghai.

There are 90 institutions holding independent recruitment events this year.

xinhuanet.com