Advertisement
Advertisement
China education
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
Liang Shi is 55-years-old and plans to take the gaokao for the 26th time. Photo: SCMP composite

Exam uncle: 55-year-old man plans to take China’s gaokao university entrance test for the 26th time in hopes of getting into his dream school

  • The business owner has dreamed of attending Sichuan University since he was a teenager
  • He has scored high enough to get admitted to second-tier universities, but he wants to attend his dream school

The vast majority of Chinese people who take the annual gaokao university entrance exam are teenagers on the verge of starting their journey into adulthood.

But 55-year-old Liang Shi will be taking the exam for the 26th time, hoping to score high enough to get admitted to Sichuan University, his dream school.

Liang, who owns a building materials company in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province, has been taking the gaokao, China’s one-size-fits-all university entrance exam, since 1983. There was a preselection test back then, and he was eliminated in the first round.

“My grades were low at the time, but my desire to attend college was strong, and that is why I haven’t given up after all these years,” Liang told China News, a state-run wire service.

Liang, who is much older than fellow test takers, studies for the gaokao. Photo: Weibo

Liang said that he skipped the exam 14 times either due to work responsibilities or previous policies requiring students to be unmarried and under 25 years old, which were lifted in 2001.

His best score over the years was slightly more than 400 out of 750, which would grant him admission to a second-tier university, but Liang found the score disappointing because the score would not be high enough to attend Sichuan University.

Liang was jokingly dubbed gaokao Dingzihu, which literally means “nail household”, a reference to people who refuse to leave their homes despite a development project under way around them.

After years of failing to complete the science comprehension portion of the exam, which is required for science students, Liang transferred to study art and human sciences this year.

After learning his score in late June last year, Liang announced online his decision to make the transfer. Many people told him his “failing memory” due to his age would hold him back from memorising textbooks compared to younger students.

“I just turned 55, and I’m still young,” Liang said. “And I am having no trouble learning history and geography so far.”

Liang says he uses his critics as motivation, and he said his test scores show he is on the correct path. Photo: Weibo

Liang also pushed back against critics who accused him of taking the gaokao to promote his business.

“I simply take people’s scepticism as motivation and use my test results to prove them wrong,” Liang refuted.

Liang stated that his goal for this year is to attend a prestigious university.

“If I can get into a school that I like, I’ll end this gaokao ‘Long March’ and go to school,” Liang said, referencing a key moment in China’s Communist Party history.

“Otherwise, I will continue to take the gaokao until it becomes obvious that my dream cannot be realised.”

Liang is not the only long-time gaokao-taker. Another man named Tang Shangjun from Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in south China also became a hit last November after taking the gaokao 13 times to get into the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.

While many people find it amusing, others are inspired by Liang’s spirit of perseverance.

“Although I am not as old as he is, he did what I always wanted to do but did not dare,” someone said.

Another joked: “I hope he gets into his dream school this year, or else I’ll have to read the same news next year.”

4