There seems to be a lot more people than usual on my street which has also by the way been banned to cars…. This requires some investigation!!!
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| A tad more crowded than usual |
As I walk around the block the sign tells me what I wanted to know:
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| The sign says it clearly |
On the sign on the right: “JiaoTong GuanZhi CheLiang RaoXing”; which roughly translate to no car allowed and with the sign on the left I get my explanation!!!: "GaoKao KaoChang CheLiang RaoXing" (“Big Exam” / Place / Vehicule / Deviated) - "YingHu GaoKao JinZhi MingDi" (English / “Big Exam” / Forbidden / Honk the horn)
The big exam in question is the 高等院校入学考试 – Gao1Deng3 Yuan4Xiao4 Ru4Xue2 Kao3Shi4 or 高考 Gao1Kao3 for short. The annual national post secondary entrance examinations is the largest of its kind in the world with more than 9.5 million Chinese students sitting the exam today and tomorrow (more than 125,000 in Beijing). The exam is regarded as one of the most important events for the participants and could change their lives in a fiercely competitive society. A record 10.1 million Chinese students have applied for this year nationwide college entrance exam but only 5.67 million will see their college dream fulfilled. It’s the 30th since it was restored after the Cultural Revolution (Chinese universities were shut down from 1966 to 1976, due to the political turmoil).
