Chinese students review textbooks or write test papers to prepare for the upcoming National College Entrance Exam, also known as gaokao, at the Shanxi Library in Taiyuan city, north China's Shanxi province, 2 June 2016.

Some nine million students are preparing for the biggest test of their life: China's annual college entrance examination. Called the gaokao, or "high exam," it will take place over nine hours on June 7-8 across China. It's the culmination of years of memorization and test taking, capped off by at least 12 months of grueling preparation. With its roots in the imperial examinations that started more than 2,000 years ago, the gaokao decides what school you go to and what career you might have, says Xiong Bingqi, vice president at the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Shanghai. The gaokao is an especially high hurdle for China's more than 100 million rural students, who already receive an education of far lower quality than their urban counterparts. A quota system for allocating coveted college slots by province, which greatly favors local students, also works against rural youth who often live far from the better universities and need higher test scores than local applicants to gain admission. That means urban youth are 7 times as likely to get into a college as poor rural youth and 11 times as likely to get into an elite institution, according to economist Scott Rozelle, a Chinese education researcher at Stanford. "The current system itself is unfair," Xiong says. "Inequality is inevitable."
What happens if you fail the gaokao? (2016)
Associate producer, Shen Lu, tells CNN's Michael Holmes why failing China's high pressure two-day college entrance exam changed her life for the better.
4:27 • Source: CNN
China 16 videos
Chinese students review textbooks or write test papers to prepare for the upcoming National College Entrance Exam, also known as gaokao, at the Shanxi Library in Taiyuan city, north China's Shanxi province, 2 June 2016.

Some nine million students are preparing for the biggest test of their life: China's annual college entrance examination. Called the gaokao, or "high exam," it will take place over nine hours on June 7-8 across China. It's the culmination of years of memorization and test taking, capped off by at least 12 months of grueling preparation. With its roots in the imperial examinations that started more than 2,000 years ago, the gaokao decides what school you go to and what career you might have, says Xiong Bingqi, vice president at the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Shanghai. The gaokao is an especially high hurdle for China's more than 100 million rural students, who already receive an education of far lower quality than their urban counterparts. A quota system for allocating coveted college slots by province, which greatly favors local students, also works against rural youth who often live far from the better universities and need higher test scores than local applicants to gain admission. That means urban youth are 7 times as likely to get into a college as poor rural youth and 11 times as likely to get into an elite institution, according to economist Scott Rozelle, a Chinese education researcher at Stanford. "The current system itself is unfair," Xiong says. "Inequality is inevitable."
What happens if you fail the gaokao? (2016)
04:27
Now playing
• Source: CNN
Winnie The Pooh
China cracks down on 'Winnie the Pooh'
01:01
Now playing
• Source: CNN
liu xiaobo orig_00000024.jpg
The lovers even China couldn't keep apart
01:24
Now playing
• Source: CNN
china tycoons vanish
The mystery of disappearing Chinese tycoons
01:15
Now playing
• Source: CNNmoney
WASHINGTON, D.C. - AUGUST 14: (AFP-OUT) U.S. President Donald J. Trump holds a memorandum he just signed on addressing China's laws, policies, practices, and actions related to intellectual property, innovation, and technology at The White House on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)
Trump vs China: Tensions over trade
02:10
Now playing
• Source: CNNMoney
China's new 10,000-tonne guided-missile destroyer enters the water at Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard during a launching ceremony on the morning of June 28, 2017. As China's new domestically-produced destroyer, it is equipped with latest air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon systems. (eng.chinamil.com.cn / Photo by Chen Guoquan and Yin Hang)
Huge new Chinese warship launches
00:35
Now playing
• Source: CNN
china X-ray space telescope
China launches its first X-ray space telescope
01:03
Now playing
• Source: CNNMoney
trump xi jinping slipt getty
Trump and China: What's at stake?
01:26
Now playing
• Source: CNN
china largest floating solar farm rivers pkg_00011719.jpg
This solar farm floats atop a flooded coal mine
00:58
Now playing
• Source: CNN
U.S. Army Pacific commander Gen. Robert Brown, front row center, and Gen. Liu Xiaowu, front row third right, the commander for Southern Theater Command Army of Chinese Liberation Army (PLA), applaud with their soldiers at a group photo session after conducting the U.S.-China Disaster Management Exchange (DME) drill at a PLA's training base in Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. Chinese and U.S. troops staged joint drills Friday in an effort to better coordinate a response to humanitarian disasters and build confidence between their militaries that remain deeply wary of each other. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
How US, China military relations could change
02:39
Now playing
• Source: CNN
China North Korea
China & North Korea: A complicated relationship
01:13
Now playing
• Source: CNN
The IFC tower is seen shrouded in smoke after fireworks were fired over the city skyline as part of China's national day celebrations in Hong Kong on October 1, 2015. China is marking the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.  AFP PHOTO / Philippe Lopez        (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Hong Kong and China: One country, two systems
01:53
Now playing
• Source: CNN
A golden pheasant is seen at Hangzhou Safari Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, November 13, 2016. According to local media, the pheasant gains popularity as its golden feathers resemble the hairstyle of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Picture taken November 13, 2016.
China has a new obession and it's Trump's hair
02:01
Now playing
• Source: CNN
deadly pileup in china cnn original_00000000.jpg
Huge deadly pileup in China
00:59
Now playing
• Source: CCTV
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 13, 2016 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting Farm No. 1116 under KPA Unit 810 at an undisclosed location in North Korea. / AFP / KCNA / KCNA        (Photo credit should read KCNA/AFP/Getty Images)
Kim Jong Un's 'fat' nickname blocked in China
00:49
Now playing
• Source: CNN
chinese bank spanking
Bank employees spanked for poor performance
01:10
Now playing
• Source: CNN