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More than 1,500 youngsters and hundreds of their parents took part in an epic march through the streets of Xiangyang in central China on Saturday. Photo: News.qq.com

Chinese schoolchildren walk 40km in preparation for college entrance exam

Challenge completed by 1,500 high school pupils who will sit the notoriously tough test in two years’ time

More than 1,500 pupils from a high school in central China completed a 40km urban march on Saturday that was designed to prepare them for a university entrance examination they will sit in two years’ time.

Every second-year pupil from Xiangyang No 1 High School in Hubei province, and more than 300 of their parents took part in the challenge, the school said in a statement on its website.

The morale-boosting test of endurance started at the school, with the pupils dressed in their uniforms and carrying red flags. Before setting off, the youngsters signed their names on a banner emblazoned with a proclamation that they would pursue a place at a good university “at all costs”.

Several roads in the city were closed and police were on hand to make sure the march went smoothly. Photo: News.qq.com

They then left the school grounds and walked into Xiangyang, many of whose streets had been closed in preparation for the walk. Police teams were also on hand to ensure everything went smoothly.

Although some youngsters were hobbling a little towards the end of their long walk – mostly due to blisters – each and every one of them made it across the finish line, the school said.

Their destination was an ancient ruin in a suburban part of the city that is believed to be part of a school attended by Zhu Geliang, a state chancellor during China’s Three Kingdoms period more than 1,800 years ago.

Zhu is known for being one of China’s most intelligent and learned scholars who became a politician.

The pupils will sit the entrance examination – known as gaokao in Mandarin – in two years’ time. Academic preparations for the test will begin next year.

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