Art study fever in China's rural region

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Art study fever in China's rural region

(People's Daily Online) 08:01, September 06, 2013

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Ten students practice sketch in the dormitory of an art training center in Neihuang county, central China's Henan province on Aug. 10, 2013. Because of the hot weather, all the boys were shirtless. Some stand; some lie on chair, and some sit on bed. (Photo/China Youth Daily)

Recently, the art study fever has swept not only cities, but also rural areas in China. Many students study art to prepare for the National Art College Entrance Examination held from January to March every year. If the student obtains the admission in the exam, he will be admitted by an art college with relative lower academic scores. Many students who have never studied fine arts, performances or broadcasting are able to obtain the good result only through an intensive training in a short period. So the art study becomes a shortcut for the students to pass the college entrance examinations.

There are more than 250 students in the art training center in Neihuang county. Most of them come from the surrounding villages. Li, the head of the center, said: "Recently, every year about 500 students in Neihuang attend the art college entrance examination. At the very most, the number has reached more than 1,200."

Yuan Zhaiwei, born in 1996, is from a small village of Neihuang county. He came to study in the art training center on July 17. He has a 6-year-old brother. His parents are both farmers. At first, like most of the students in the center, Yuan didn't have great interest in drawing. "I never studied art before. However it's my only hope to enter university since I'm not good at study," he said. When he was asked about his favorite university, he replied: "I don't have any fixed target; I will choose the one with lowest entrance level."

Ma Meijuan, a sophomore in art department of Henan University, is the part-time teaching assistant in the center. Two years ago, she received art training in the same center. A lot of part-time teaching assistants in the center have the same experience like Ma. Ma said: "Now the art college graduates have a lot of pressure in finding a job. Few of them found a job related with the major of the study. Some even went back to hometown to do small business." Facing the future, Ma felt confused.

Edited and translated by Huang Jin, People's Daily Online