China's college entrance examination (CEE) in 1977 and 1978 changed the fate of a group of Chinese with a large age gap and from all walks of life. Thirty years on, some of them anxiously waited outside exam venues praying for good luck for their only children.

On July 7, 1978, a noodle factory worker surnamed Tang walked into a CEE venue. He had not been in a classroom for eight years. "I felt just so good sitting there."

Working now in a media organization, Tang recalls his experience 30 years ago. "I remembered how I felt so concentrated that I even forgot myself."

However, Tang's son finds it hard to share the same excitement. On Saturday, when the 18-year-old walked into a clean exam room, he expected time passes quickly on the one hand, but on the other, wished the exam had not been started.

The teenager is one of a record 10.5 million young Chinese on Saturday and Sunday who participated in the national CEE, the largest of its kind in the world.

The Ministry of Education says 5.99 million of the 10.5 million participants will be able to enter college, a rate that is a lot higher than that of Tang senior's era.

Of course, exam-takers in that era did not expect much from the exam. Some just wanted to "sit in the examination room for a while to feel the long-lost school life."

In 1978, after a brief three-month preparation, Tang signed up for the exam with a primary-school diploma, abundant self-study experience and the great encouragement from his family and friends.

"I cannot recall clearly how I went home after I received the college admission notice. I could not sleep that night," said Tang who was ultimately admitted into the Chinese Literature Department of the elite Sichuan University in the country's southwest, with his scores ranking second in his county.

Ji Yunxiang was not so lucky. In 1977, he attended the exam, the first after the decade-long Cultural Revolution ending in 1976, in order to "escape the countryside." However, he failed.

As an "educated youth," Ji and his classmates went to the countryside "to live and labor together with farmers" after graduating from high school, in order to echo late Chairman Mao Zedong's call that "Urban youth should learn more from farmers."

Finally, he attended a professional school and obtained a diploma in mechanical engineering. This enabled him to work as an engineer in the Xi'an Railway Bureau.

Sitting outside an exam venue for hours waiting for his daughter, Ji says conditions are much better now as little time was allowed for study when his fellow classmates and himself labored in countryside.

Although study conditions have become much better and enrolment rates much higher, up from single digit 30 years ago to more than 50 percent, student pressure is bigger than ever.

Chinese describe CEE, or gaokao in Chinese, as "thousands of troops on a single-log bridge" because of the limited placements in university enrollment. For students in poverty-stricken rural areas, the tough exam could be their only opportunity to escape the rigors of country life.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and China Youth Daily showed 89.6 percent of those polled felt their fate was changed by the exam. Among those who said their fate was "totally changed," 69.1 percent came from the countryside and only 30.9 percent were from cities.

Meanwhile, Chinese social sentiment stresses too much on a university diploma. It is believed that one surely could not find a decent job without a college certificate, and jobs become less and less even for college graduates.

Ji said the CEE could change people's fate 30 years ago and the exam now can decide children's future, especially that of rural students.

"Regardless in which era, study can influence the development and quality of life," said Ji, adding it's a top priority for them to show care to children's physical conditions. But as for alleviating the mental pressure, Ji does not know what to suggest.

Different exam

Exam rules now are meticulous, strict and standard.

An educator surnamed Zhang of the high school affiliated to Beijing's elite Tsinghua University says there are 30 sets of tables and chairs in each exam room. Invigilators, or monitors, must stand on each side of the classroom and must answer students' questions loudly. They must also accompany those who go to the washroom.

Zhang recalled himself sitting in the front row when he took the exam 30 year ago. The tables and chairs were worn and an invigilator carelessly sat beside him.

"A student even carelessly took the papers away from the exam room because he was too nervous," he said.

After about a decade of standstill, teachers made students do exercises according to the CEE paper before the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). As for the politics exam, they prepared for it in line with the political situation at the time.

Zhang says their exam preparation materials became utterly useless after they entered university in 1978 when the country started its reform and opening up; China's central policy greatly changed and encouraged people to emancipate their mind.

He listened to his father's suggestion and chose to study chemistry. He soon found he preferred physics after he had started university.

Zhang's son has his own ideas. He chose Korean language studies as his major last year when he applied for colleges, primarily out of his own interest in Korean culture. The proud father fully respected his son's choice.

"The current society needs a variety of talents. Majors such as information technology, law, economics and foreign languages enjoy the most popularity as the nation's economic and social development needs them," he said.

The daughter of Liu Fang, a math teacher from Hebei Province, chose veterinary medicine as her major in 2005, which went against her father's wish. "I hoped my daughter could study a more comprehensive major but I know she loves animals so I respect her choice," said Liu.

The academic recalled that 30 years ago when he attended the exam as a 17-year-old, his fellow exam-takers and himself all used left hands to wipe sweat on forehead and rights hands to hold pens.

"Now, air-conditioners, medical and traffic police services are all available for students. We even could not imagine that in our era," he said.

Take it as experience

Duan Yafei, an English teacher at Beijing Shiyi School, says that in recent years the society no longer takes the exam as the only channel for a child's future development. With more and more families able to afford overseas education, a large number of students choose to study overseas after graduating from high school.

Meanwhile, when China's universities enrol students, there are an increasing number of special enrolment for high school graduates who are especially good at a certain subjects such as literature, maths or sports.

Although the CEE is still a major means of personnel selection for higher education after 30 years of development, the society has gradually adjusted its standard.

"The CEE needs reform, but it has to be gradual. There is no Panacea," says Zhang of the Tsinghua high school, adding that while debates over the exam continue, more people believe it is the only open, fair and just way of talent selection.

Duan says the exam has became fairer as one exam paper is to be marked and reviewed by a group of teachers on an online scoring system so as to ensure objectiveness in the paper marking.

Although the CEE did not take engineer Ji anywhere, he attributes his ensuing success to the exam experience. "After the exam, it's going to be a new start," Ji told his daughter.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2008)