39-year-old to sit gaokao again

The countdown for Gaokao, or China's national college entrance examination, has started. Recently, a 39-year-old gaokao candidate Wang Shiqing went viral on Chinese social media.

At 4 pm on May 9, he went to a hospital for gaokao physical checkup. As his story had already become popular, he was soon recognized by the students and parents there.

"My name is Wang Shiqing, I'm 39 this year. I'm 1.73 meters tall and weigh 77 kg. And I'm a viviparous mammal…" Wang's humorous self-introduction made the people around him burst into laughter.

Wang is a high school principal in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi province. He fulfilled his dream to be a university student after two rounds of gaokao in 1999 and 2000 and became a graduate.

He said now that the country has lifted the age limit everyone can take the college entrance examination.

Since 2014, he has registered for gaokao every year, as he wanted to help students better by taking the exam himself. He said he would take it for next 12 years until his son is eligible for the exam. His son is now 6-year-old.

"Taking gaokao helps me learn a lot, which I can use to improve the quality of teaching," he said.

"I'm just a teacher, so I simply want to use my teaching philosophy and methods to help more students and let them go to good universities. That's my goal," Wang said.

He takes the tests for liberal arts students in the year of odd number (2015, 2017) and the tests for science students in the year of even number (2014, 2016 and 2018).

"As I grow old, my thinking and career changes, too," he said. The teaching achievements are all reflected in the students' academic scores, which has strengthened their confidence and been recognized by the parents.

"This year's first-year high school students will be the first batch of candidates to take part in the newly reformed gaokao in 2021. I will also experience the change of the new gaokao with them," he said.

A pilot reform for college recruitment has been put in place in Shanghai and Zhejiang province this year. The reform gives high-school students extra chances in the college entrance test and more choices in selection of subjects.