Full Booking of Hotels Near Exam Centers... 12 Million Candidates Taking China's Version of the College Entrance Exam

Gaokao, Record Number of Test Takers
Chinese Authorities "Crackdown and Strict Punishment on Cheating"

China's university entrance exam, the 'Gaokao,' began on the 7th, setting a record for the highest number of test-takers ever. The Gaokao, which started in 1952, saw a surge in examinees after the 1990s when university education became fee-based and private universities emerged.

According to AFP on the 7th (local time), the Chinese Ministry of Education announced that 12.91 million candidates will take this year's Gaokao (from the 7th to the 8th). This is 980,000 more than last year's record-breaking number of test-takers. This year's Gaokao candidates belong to a generation that replaced most high school classes with online learning due to frequent lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese examinees lining up in front of the college entrance exam venue.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

The total score for the Gaokao exam is 750 points, and to enter prestigious Chinese universities, candidates need to score above 600 points. However, the Gaokao is known for its extreme difficulty. Last year, in Guangdong Province, the most populous region in China, only 3% of candidates scored above 600 points.

With so many candidates taking the exam, Chinese education authorities have issued warnings against cheating and strengthened enforcement. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed in every classroom, and video supervisors monitor the footage in real time. Additionally, smart security checkpoints, 5G signal jammers, and metal detectors have been set up at exam entrances to prevent candidates from bringing electronic devices into the testing centers.

Universities have prohibited enrolled students from leaving campus during the Gaokao period to prevent involvement in cheating, and school officials regularly track the whereabouts of students who leave for special reasons or are on off-campus internships.

Students leaving the exam venue after finishing the first day of the college entrance exam in China on the 7th.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

Cheating cases during the Gaokao have sparked controversy every year in China. Notably, during the 2020 Gaokao, a candidate hired someone in advance to provide answers for money and entered the exam hall with a mobile phone to exchange questions and answers with an accomplice. Both the candidate and the proxy test-taker, as well as two individuals who facilitated their cheating, were criminally prosecuted after the proxy took the art practical exam on behalf of the candidate.

Hotel Reservations Surge Around Exam Sites Amid Rampant Price Gouging

Parents waiting at the university entrance exam site for their children in China. [Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

With the start of the Gaokao, a booking war is underway for hotels near exam sites. Rooms in hotels close to the test centers were fully booked early, and price gouging is rampant.

The Gaokao exam is held annually over two days, from the 7th to the 8th. Since the dates are fixed, hotels prepare to accommodate guests accordingly each year.

On the 7th, Chinese media including Pengpai News analyzed data from Chinese travel platforms and found that hotel bookings within 3 km of exam sites nearly quadrupled compared to the same period last year. The number of 'hourly rooms' available for lunch breaks near exam sites also increased more than threefold from last year.

The most popular cities for Gaokao hotel bookings within 3 km of exam sites were the capital Beijing and the economic hub Shanghai, ranking first and second respectively. Shanghai had the highest number of hourly room bookings. Many families of examinees booked hotels near exam sites in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen months in advance.

Among examinees' families, hotel room numbers like '985' and '211' are popular. These numbers refer to China's university development policies. The '985' project aims to cultivate a few universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, into world-class institutions. It was first announced by former President Jiang Zemin in May 1998. The '211' project is a blueprint to develop 100 prestigious universities for the 21st century, launched in November 1995.

Media reports explain that families book hotel rooms with these numbers hoping their children will be admitted to government-supported prestigious universities.

Some hotel booking platforms operate 'Gaokao Energy Stations,' providing free emergency stationery, luggage storage, and heat shelters for examinees and their families. Additionally, some offer extended checkout options with an extra two hours for families of test-takers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.