The annual national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao, took place over three days last week. From New York Times:
For the past year, Liu Qichao has focused on one thing, and only one thing: the gao kao, or the high test.
Fourteen to 16 hours a day, he studied for the college entrance examination, which this year will determine the fate of more than 10 million Chinese students. He took one day off every three weeks.
He was still carrying his textbook from room to room last Sunday morning before leaving for the exam site, still reviewing materials during the lunch break, still hard at work Sunday night, preparing for Part 2 of the exam that Monday.
“I want to study until the last minute,” he said. “I really hope to be successful.”
James Fallows has also written extensively on the gaokao and the education in system more generally. Several of his posts can be seen here.
Lastly, read about the essay topics and more, via CDT.