Studies have shown that in Asian contexts, Western constructs of achievement motivation may not operate in the same way or generate the same effects as in Western learning settings due to the cultural differences. The focus of this research was placed on how Chinese students understood achievement goals in learning settings. 199 students from the English department in a Chinse public college participated. Six vignettes with each describing one type of achievement goal oriented student were used to assess participants’ understanding of each type of achievement goal. The participants were offered a choice of the worksheet in the course with either novel problems or familiar problems. The students were asked: (a) Which worksheet do you think Student A would choose? and (b) Why do you think Student A would choose that worksheet? The explanations provided by the students were coded and analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA tests. Results showed that participants displayed a higher level of understanding of task-approach and other-approach goals than the rest types of goals, while their understanding of avoidance-oriented goals was surprisingly poor. The findings provided extra evidence to support the claim that avoidance goals are less prevalent in achievement situations in typical educational settings such as the classroom context. From a cultural perspective, Chinese students are typically always encouraged to strive for better performance due to the exam stress. The focus on knowledge gain and good results might greatly trigger and strengthen students’ perceptions and experiences of learning in line with task- and other-approach goals. This, in turn, consolidates their understanding of these goals.