Gaokao Students 1
Photo Credit: VCG
EDUCATION

Inside China’s “Gaokao Factory”

A former students recounts her grueling schedule and eventual withdrawal from Hengshui, a city notorious for exam-prep schools

The 2022 edition of China’s National College Entrance Examination (gaokao) takes place from June 8 to 9 this year, with certain cities offering additional subject tests until the week’s end, and Shanghai postponing its exams until July due to Covid-19 restrictions. During this week, close to 12 million teens will be striving to achieve their best results on what for most will be the single factor deciding which university they will go to—or whether they go at all.

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author Renjian the Livings

Renjian the Livings is the nonfiction storytelling platform under NetEase. It aims to “reconstruct life through narration.”


Translated By
author Hatty Liu

Hatty Liu is the former managing editor of The World of Chinese, and an award-winning communications researcher. Born in China, and raised in China, Canada, and the US, she leverages her cross-cultural identity to create more empathetic knowledge across national boundaries.

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