A man has perpetually enrolled himself in high school for the past eight years just so that he could retake China’s national college entrance exams.
Wu Shanliu, 32, was accepted to Tsinghua University in Beijing after scoring high on this year’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination or gaokao, Global Times reported.
Wu, who belongs to Qinzhou in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, may, however, once again give up his spot.
Online users have discovered that over the years, Wu has turned down multiple invites from China’s most prestigious schools, including the Peking University and Beijing Normal University.
Wu took his first exams in 2000 and 2001 before retaking the exam in 2007 and testing every year since then.
Wu has re-enrolled in high school every year so that he would be eligible for the gaokao.
Fellow students at Qinzhou-area high schools explained that although Wu was technically enrolled, he rarely went to class.
“We all called him an ‘exam god’,” a former classmate said.
Some people speculated that Wu was taking the exams for cash, as some schools and local governments offer awards to top examinees.
However, Qinzhou education department employees said the city has abandoned the award system during the past two years.
Local school officials explain that schools do not discriminate against examinees based on age or frequency of sitting the exam.
“We don’t care if the results are good or not. Everyone has their own goals and pursuits. The school can only try its best to meet students’ needs,” the principal of Qinzhou Second Middle School said.
