June 24, 2008
Every year around this time, the newspapers focus their attention upon the students who scored the highest in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or gaokao.
Today’s Chongqing Times ran a full-page special on the “Gaokao Stars”. The smiling faces of the three students who received the highest score in this year’s gaokao in Chongqing appeared on the front page of the newspaper
The newspaper also announced that two of these gaokao stars along with their parents and teachers will be available for an hour to talk to interested readers over the phone.
Those readers who wanted more details were satisfied: the newspaper provided details, including their “secret” for preparing for the exam, their hobbies, and their parents and teachers’ opinions on them.
The Beijing News also ran a front page story on “gaokao stars” from Beijing, along with an inside page featuring brief biographies.
In a country where it seems one cannot overstate the importance of education and scoring high on exams, these are stars indeed.