Festival well-wishers add to college entrance exam good fortune
Outside the classroom in the corridor, teachers wave inflated "torches" as encouragement when the students pass through.
The National College Entrance Exam days from June 7 to 9 coincided roughly with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday which fell from June 8 to 10 this year. Seniors from a high school in Minhang District received zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) as a gift from their school canteen and blessings from their teachers waving inflated "torches" as encouragement for good performance during the exams.
June 5 was the last day senior students from Minhang Foreign Language School, affiliated to the Shanghai International Studies University, spent in their daily classes at campus.
The school canteen prepared zongzi (粽子), which rhymes with gaozhong (高中[粽]), or "successfully pass the exam and get enrolled into a desired university," for the students.
Subject and class teachers also prepared gifts for their students, such as a "train ticket" to one's desired university, or a pendant for good luck.
"We'll always stand with them, cheering for their future," said one class teacher.
"We're about to leave, yet still feeling deeply cared for by our teachers," said Zhu Beini, a final year student at the senior high school. "We feel more confident in the coming exams."
Outside classrooms in corridors, teachers waved inflated "torches" as encouragement when their students passed through.
A class of seniors from Minhang Foreign Language School affiliated to SISU eat the Dragon Boat Festival snack zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings.
Zongzi 粽子 rhymes with 高中(粽), or "successfully pass the exam and get enrolled into a desired university."
Seniors receive blessings from their teachers waving inflated "torches" as encouragement for good performance during the exams.
