China's Gaokao Begins... Dads Wearing Dresses for Their Daughters

The Gaokao (高考), China's university entrance examination taken by over 13 million candidates, has begun.

Local media such as China Central Television (CCTV) on the 7th eagerly reported scenes of examinees entering the exam venues, cheered on by their families and friends.

A father wearing a qipao cheering for his daughter.
Photo by China Sina.com capture

원본보기 아이콘

Like in Korea, Gaokao is considered the most important exam for Chinese students. Due to the large number of examinees and the strong desire to enter prestigious universities, the competition is unimaginably fierce. For this reason, the exam month of June is sometimes called the "Dark June" (Heiliuyue·黑六月).

Gaokao starts every year on June 7. On the 7th and 8th, students take nationwide unified subject exams such as Chinese and Mathematics, and on the 9th, they take subjects selected by each region.

In the capital Beijing, the four-day exam schedule is as follows: △ June 7 - Chinese and Mathematics △ June 8 - English and other foreign languages △ June 9 - Physics, Politics, Chemistry △ June 10 - History, Biology, Geography.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, this year’s number of examinees reached a record high of 13.42 million, an increase of 510,000 from last year, due to a rise in repeat test-takers known as "N-susheng".

This year, the total university admission quota in China is 4.5 million, about one-third of all examinees, while the top 100 prestigious universities have an admission capacity of 600,000, meaning only the top 4.4% can enter.

As it becomes harder to enter prestigious universities, the scale of support and encouragement has also grown.

The official Weibo (Chinese SNS) account of Chang'e 6, the world’s first lunar far-side sample return mission currently returning to Earth, posted messages like "Everyone striving hard is amazing," and a video of a male teacher wearing the traditional Chinese women's dress "qipao" (旗袍) encouraging students with "Don’t be nervous. You will definitely pass" received great responses.

In China, during the Gaokao period, it has become a trend for both men and women to wear the female traditional dress qipao to encourage examinees. This is because the character 'qi' (旗) in qipao means "flag," evoking the phrase "Victory as soon as the flag is raised" (旗開得勝). As a result, not only mothers but also fathers and male teachers wear qipao to cheer on students.

At the entrance of the exam venue at Wuhan No. 2 High School in Hubei Province, Mr. Lei, who was wearing a qipao to support his daughter, told Zipai News in an interview, "My daughter studied hard, and I promised to lose weight to have an ideal figure when escorting her to the exam venue." He added, "I ended up losing 12.5 kg."

The Chinese authorities are paying close attention to ensuring examinees can achieve good results in optimal environments. The Nanchang city government in Jiangxi Province has set up a hotline for noise complaints, and in Weihai and Linyi cities in Shandong Province, dedicated lanes for examinees’ vehicles have been introduced.

This year’s Gaokao is held over two days, June 7 and 8, but in most regions, it extends for one or two more days. In Beijing, it continues for four days until the 10th, with the last exam subject being Geography.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.