Students leave after their first exam during the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as "gaokao", in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 7, 2023.
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China's Gao Kao kicked off on Wednesday, and is expected to last in most cities until Thursday.
The exams are so important that the police often show up in force to maintain order and escort students.
China's 2023 Gao Kao cohort is its biggest yet, with 12.9 million test-takers.
China's massive Gao Kao tests began Wednesday, with millions of high schoolers participating in the nation's college entrance exams.
For any Chinese student hoping to get into college, this is make-or-break. Imagine the SAT, ACT, and all of your AP tests rolled into two days. That's Gao Kao, or "higher education exam."
The marks from all of a student's exams are combined into a single score that defines what colleges they can get into. If they don't hit a college's standard, there's almost no chance of attending that school.
The pressure can be immense, and the entire country knows it. Families put their lives on hold for two days to make sure every condition is just right for their kid. Cities expect residents to keep it down so the students can concentrate. In some towns, police appear in droves to escort test-takers.
Here's what went down this year during the annual Gao Kao — the biggest two days of every Chinese high schooler's life.
Students are tested on Chinese, mathematics, one foreign language of their choosing, and additional subjects in the sciences or arts, depending on which stream they pick.
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On the day of the exam, some authorities arrange for traffic police — like the ones here in Qingdao — to escort students who come by the busload.
Traffic police escort students to exam sites in Qingdao.
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Yes, literal busloads.
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The 2023 Gao Kao cohort is China's biggest yet, with 12.9 million participants.
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Anxious parents often swarm test venues, like this crowd waiting for their kids to finish the Gao Kao in Nanjing.
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This father in Neijiang, Sichuan, is writing his child's name on a well-wishing and blessing board for the Gao Kao.
Tang Mingrun/VCG via Getty Images
Of course, teachers are often present to encourage their students, like this man in Huzhou.
Tan Yunfeng/VCG via Getty Images
The tests are so important that police are often sent to maintain order at exam venues, such as this spot in Hebei.
Traffic policemen maintain order outside an exam venue in Hebei.
Chen Xiaodong/VCG via Getty Images
Armed police were stationed outside this exam site in Qingdao.
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One student with an ankle injury was even carried to his exam hall by a SWAT officer in Taizhou.
Taizhou
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Younger students are often asked to cheer on their seniors, like at this ceremony in Xuzhou, where test-takers received paper sunflowers from their schoolmates a day before this year's annual exams.
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People sometimes volunteer to cheer on students with signs and high-fives, like these adults in Beijing.
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Some cities like Bozhou even organize "volunteer fleets" of cars and police officers to help students with transport.
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Their job is to make sure students, especially those with accessibility needs, arrive on time.
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Security can be pretty tight. Some students had to go through metal detector checks even in smaller cities like Lianyungang.
Stringer/Reuters
One school in Tianjin has had security cameras installed since 2017 to prevent any cheating from taking place.
Stringer/Reuters
The exam papers have to be kept secure too. Staff members at this exam center in Beijing are moving the documents in suitcases under the watch of local guards.
Fu Tian/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
And clocks have to be calibrated, down to the last second. Staff at an exam center in Qingdao gathered to do just that.
Tang Zhen/Reuters
The concept of Gao Kao resembles the imperial exams from ancient China, through which anyone could become an official based on their results. This man in Wuhan is dressed up as China's number one scholar — the "zhuangyuan" — giving blessings to students.
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Students spend almost every waking hour studying in the 100 days before the Gao Kao.
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100 days before the Gao Kao, schools often hold pep rallies and countdowns in hopes of helping students maintain momentum in their preparations.
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These students in Henan are taking an oath to do their best for the Gao Kao during a pep rally in 2018.
REUTERS
And this high school in Dongguan held a performance for seniors in the lead-up to the Gao Kao.
Stringer/Reuters
The Gao Kao's pressures can have a grim effect on society. State research has pointed to worrying rates of teen suicide being tied to stress from China's exam-based education system.
Yang Huafeng/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
Schools often try to help their students cope with fun activities or gifts, like these lucky dumplings being handed out by teachers in Changsha.
Yang Huafeng/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
Or they might do yoga, like in this school in Anyue, Sichuan.
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A rite of passage for most Chinese people, the Gao Kao symbolizes the end of a teen's life in high school. It's the culmination of three years of intense studying, and often the crowning achievement of their schooling lives.
Yang Huafeng/China News Service via Getty Images
If they don't get the score they want, a Chinese student can technically take the Gao Kao again, since the exams aren't age-limited. But they'll have to wait another year, and do it all again come next June.
