Abstract: In the context of “Double First-rate” Strategy, war for talent among universities catches the attention of both researchers and policy makers. This study took 1840 Yangtze River Scholars of China between the years 1999 and 2014 as the database to analyze the path of their career flow. This study suggests that the main problem of research scientists' mobility in China is not the problem of scale and frequency, but it is problem of the flow direction. Second, the phenomenon of “peacock flying to southeast” does exist, and the eastern and southern areas are the important locations of scientist mobility. Third, the main problems of the so-called “Midwest Crisis” and “Northeast Dilemma” not only refer to the scale of brain drain, but also indicate a lower talent attractiveness in these areas. Finally, the university administration believes that the short cut to promote a university's competitiveness is to obtain more scientists and scholars who are competitive. For a rational and orderly mobility of scientists and scholars, it is necessary to resolve the paradox between the administration and the talent market.

Key words: war for talent, scientist mobility, Yangtze River Scholar of China, job-to-job mobility, “Double First-rate” Strategy