The Gaokao Exam

Among the millions of Chinese who applied on Wednesday to take the gaokao exams, the equivalent of high school, the fifty-six-year-old millionaire named Liang Shi will try his luck for the twenty-seventh time.

This exam is a very important station and goal for the citizens of the gigantic Asian country, especially for those who belong to modest social groups.

The strong competition in education in China, the limited number of places in higher education institutions, in addition to strong pressure from families on their children to continue their education, make admission of students to the best universities very difficult, and only accessible to those who gets very high marks.

Earning a degree from a reputed university is a pass to social advancement and a guarantee that makes getting a job at a big company almost guaranteed.

Liang Shi’s Story

In the trials of life, Liang Shi can be proud of his achievements. He started his career with a modest job in a factory, and then founded his own building materials company with a booming business.

But in the heart of the fiftieth person there is a pain that neither time nor wealth can erase, expressed in the fact that he was not able to get a sufficient mark in the entrance exam to higher educational institutions, known as “gaokao”, to be able to enter the university. prestigious university in Sichuan province in southwestern China, where he lives.

Does Not Give Up

In order for him to have a chance to pass the exams this year, which are claimed by 13 million candidates, Liang Shi lived for months the “life of a monk,” as he described it, waking up every day at dawn and immersing himself in books for 12 hours.

“It saddens me that I couldn’t go to university because I really wanted to be an intellectual,” he told AFP.

Over the past four decades, he tried his luck 26 times, but each time his points were not enough to open the doors of the desired university.

Liang Xi’s story with “Gaokao” made him a star in the local media. “They call me a gaokao candidate who doesn’t give up,” he says proudly.

When he first took the exam in 1983, he was only sixteen. He continued to run for about ten more years to improve his record until he was fired in 1992.

At the time, the authorities restricted these exams to high school students or those under the age of 25.

When this restriction was lifted in 2001, Liang Xi felt that a new opportunity had opened up before him.

Mahjong Again

Since then, Liang has taken the exam 16 times, every year since 2010. Even during the Covid pandemic, when strict medical restrictions have been put in place to make exams more difficult, he does not lose heart.

His case is generating a lot of interest, with some netizens wondering if he’s doing it just for fame or as part of an advertising campaign.

Liang replies, “What can I gain from this?” “No sane person can spend decades taking gaokao exams for the sake of advertising marketing,” he added.

Liang says he was so excited that he gave up his hobbies while studying for the exam, including the traditional game of mahjong, which is very popular in China.

Liang’s persistence in trying sometimes embarrasses his son, who managed to succeed in Gaokao in 2011.

Liang Xi notes that his son at first “didn’t like” his father’s repeated attempts, “but now he doesn’t care.”

After all these months of work, the eternal candidate intends to give himself time to rest after the exam is over.

“I will play mahjong with my friends for three days and three nights!” he says.