Editor's Note:
About 9.75 million students in China are registered to take this year's national college entrance exam, or gaokao, which begins on June 7. (Photos: GT/VCG)
Parents wait for examinees to finish outside of Beijing Ritan High School on June 7, the first day of the 2018 gaokao. Photo: Chen Ping/GT 
Parents wait for examinees to finish outside of Beijing Ritan High School on June 7, the first day of the 2018 gaokao. Photo: Chen Ping/GT 
Two journalists report on the 2018 gaokao outside of Beijing Ritan High School on June 7, the first day of the 2018 gaokao. Photo: Chen Ping/GT 
Students exit a gaokao testing location after taking the first exam at Beijing Ritan High School on June 7. Photo: Chen Ping/GT 
Traffic police in Changde, Hunan Province, escort four buses carrying students to the location of the college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, on the morning of June 7, 2018. Photo: VCG 
First and second year students at the High School Attached to Zhejiang University made paper airplanes to wish the seniors good luck at the gaokao on June 5, 2018. Photo: VCG 
The tallest building in Jinan, Shandong Province, displays slogans to cheer on examinees taking the gaokao on June 6, 2018. Photo: VCG 
On the first day of the gaokao, parents in Yanbian, Jilin Province, stick phrases of good luck on rice cakes, wishing their children an excellent performance on the exam. The rice cake, a traditional food of the Korean ethnic group, has the same pronunciation as the Chinese phrase “dagao,” which means “getting high grades.” Photo: VCG 
In a classroom at Suqian High School, Jiangsu Province, a gaokao examinee checks in using the face recognition system on June 7, the first day of the 2018 gaokao. This is the first time Jiangsu Province has used this system during the gaokao. Photo: VCG 
Students who have graduated from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University hold banners with encouraging slogans outside the school gate to cheer on students taking the 2018 college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, on June 7, 2018. Photo: VCG 
Taxi companies in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, set up a service team that can provide convenient rides for students taking part in the gaokao on June 6, 2018. Photo: VCG
