High school students prepare for the exam in Neihuang county, Henan province. LIU XIAOKUN/VCG

Cherish the moment

Tang Guoyu, who works in the Beijing office of a leading US IT company, earned over 680 points on the gaokao and was the highest scorer in science in Jiangsu province's Lianyungang city in 2005.

The 29-year-old earned her PhD in computer science from Tsinghua, which she points out is full of top gaokao scorers.

"I didn't feel particular pressure after earning a top gaokao score," she says.

"The exam tests attitude beyond just knowledge. You just need to focus, try your best and not worry about the results."

Still, she believes the test has significance.

"It has decided many things afterward," she says.

"My lifestyle and the city I live in depended on that moment."

Hangzhou native Jiang Xiaobin, the top scorer on the Chinese-language test in Zhejiang province in 2006, also points to how her success on the test gave her choices.