College, one man's dream, another's headache

CHENGDU, June 8 (Xinhua) -- For totally opposite reasons Liang Shi and Yang Chengxing have became online celebrities due to the nation's obsession with gaokao, China's college entrance exam, that's currently being sat by millions.

Liang, 45, is probably the country's most tenacious gaokao candidate. He's sitting a 16th exam this year after 15 failures, while 21-year-old Yang is viewed as a rebel for choosing not to sit the exam.

The two met on a talk show on the Dragon TV, a satellite broadcaster based in Shanghai, this week, participating in the debate: does higher education necessarily means a better future.

Called "king of gaokao" by Internet users, Liang's dream is to enter the prestigious Sichuan University in the southwestern city of Chengdu to study mathematics.

The man took his first college entrance exam in 1983. He was enrolled by a local technical school in 1985, but soon dropped out to continue seeking his dream of entering college to get a passport to a decent job.

Liang now successfully runs a building material business, and his son entered university last year, but he still thinks he won't be fulfilled without receiving higher education.

"I don't think you will have a promising prospect if you dropped out from college because I well know that to start a business is difficult especially on the condition of lacking enough knowledge," Liang told Yang Chengxing on the talk show.