Photos: ‘Gaokao’ in the Shadow of COVID

A record 11.93 million students are sitting this year’s national college entrance exam.

China’s annual college entrance exam kicked off Tuesday, with a record 11.93 million students sitting the gaokao. The number taking the crucial exam is 1.15 million more compared with 2021.

More than 800 students across China took the exam in various COVID-19 quarantine sites this year, according to the Ministry of Education. In Shanghai, the exam has been postponed until July 7 due to the city’s outbreak.

Meanwhile, an estimated 10.76 million will graduate from universities this year, according to the top education authority. The number is an increase of 1.67 million compared with the previous year.

A student drums up a festive atmosphere on the eve of the national college entrance exam in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 6, 2022. Long Tao/VCG.

A self-encouragement note at a desk in a high school in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, June 6, 2022. Lu Shige/VCG

A student takes a COVID-19 test before the national college entrance exam at a school in Shenyang, Liaoning province, June 6, 2022. VCG

Left: Parents attach Korean pastries, the pronunciation of which sounds similar to “attain a high score” in Chinese, to a school wall in Yanbian, Jilin province; right: A mother prays for her child outside a school in Beijing, July 7, 2022. VCG

Liang Shi, 55, prepares for his 26th college entrance exam in Chengdu, Sichuan province, June 6, 2022. VCG

Traffic signs placed outside a school in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, June 7, 2022. Xu Peixin/VCG

Parents wait outside a school gate in Chengdu, Sichuan province, June 7, 2022. Wang Huan/VCG

Mothers cheer for their children in front of a school gate in Yongzhou, Hunan province, June 7, 2022. Tao Xuri/VCG

Parents across China offer encouragement to their children before the national college entrance exam, July 7, 2022. VCG

A student high-fives his teacher before entering school for the national college entrance exam in Beijing, July 7, VCG

A parent delivers their child’s admission card for the national college entrance examination in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, June 7, 2022. Hu Yuanjia/VCG

Students receive body temperature checks before they enter the exam sites across China, June 7, 2022. VCG

Students do some last-minute revision before they enter the exam hall in Beijing, June 7, 2022. Lin Hai/VCG

Left: Last-minute preparations at a running track in Taiyuan, Shanxi province; right: Students discuss before the exam in Chengdu, Sichuan province, June 7, 2022. VCG

Students cheer before entering the exam hall in Dushan, Guizhou province, June 7, 2022. VCG

Editors: Bibek Bhandari and Qi Ya.

(Header image: A student reviews his study notes before the exam in Neijiang, Sichuan province, June 7, 2022. Lan Zitao/VCG)