The Day China Stops: university entrance exam
8Jun2008 Filed under: news, observing Author: Jenny Zhu
Anxious parents stand outside the school to give kids moral support
Besides Chinese New Year, the only occasion that China stops for is 高考/gao1 kao3/university entrance exam. Every year, from the 7th to the 9th of June, the entire nation switches into exam mode with millions of teenagers. This year, a staggering 11 million students are competing for their place at university.
Gaokao is not only crucial for the students. It has a very special place in the collective Chinese psyche.
- A lot of us have personally exprienced or will experience the test of one’s life. Eventhough there are more diverse pathways in life, many still see gaokao as the deal maker or breaker, which touches on a deeper issue–
- –exams have special and deep-rooted significance in China. The standardised exam system dates back 1400 years. Throughout history, it was used to select court officials, and was the most meritocratic and fair system in China. It could catapult someone from humble beginnings to power and fortune. The same can be said for gaokao. That’s why the stakes are so high for most students and parents. The future of your life hangs on the exam. The pressure is so overwhelming that many high school students get gray hair as in the case of my 2 cousins. But it gradually went back to black when gaokao was over.
I’ll write about how the nation stops in tomorrow’s post. Meanwhile, all the very best to the students, especially those in Sichuan.
ChinesePod’s upper intermediate lesson on universities in China
newbie lesson on university majors
7 Responses to “The Day China Stops: university entrance exam”
Leave a reply
About this blog
Hi, I am Jenny Zhu from ChinesePod.com. I bring you a slice of the Chinese language and culture in the daily podcast. But there is so much more than what a podcast has time for, so jennyzhu.com is a space of observation and reflection on the big, small and everything in between about China.
Lunetta
June 8th, 2008 at 6:02 am
This is great stuff, Jenny! Maybe you could talk about this and make some interviews or something like that for your new show.
Jenny Zhu
June 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Hi Lunetta,
Thank you for your support and great suggestion! Going forward, Jenny Zhu’s China will be more current and cover fascinating topics like this.
Art
June 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
For those interested in history, a wikipedia entry on China’s Imperial Exams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination
Mickey/Chillosk
June 8th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Interesting Jenny! I heard there was a kid that was caught cheating in one of the uni tests before. He had like a microphone and earphone hidden somewhere in his body and he would whisper the questions to a friend, who was connected to a computer somewhere outside the school. The friend would research the answers over the internet and feed it back to the test-taker. Comes to show how important (and pressure-filled!) these 高考 are for the Chinese youth..
Nathan
June 12th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Chinesepod should consider doing a lesson on 高考.
StanDuke
June 13th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I also think this would make an excellent ChinesePod lesson. My Chinese mother in law is a high school math teacher–who of course by definition helps kids prep for 高考。Still, it took me years to appreciate what a big deal this test is. I found especially interesting the stories of how the test was reinstated after the cultural revolution and what a big deal it was then.
Pink Jeans
June 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
The BBC recently did a TV series on schooling in China, and of course they did feature the 高考. Unfortunately I missed most of the series and I was trawling the net to see if I could somehow view it online. That’s how I came across Chinesepod, my best discovery of the year. Incidentally, the series was called Chinese School and if anyone knows where I can access online viewing of this, please let me know.