Wang Ya, a student of Beichuan Middle School, studies for the college entrance exam at a training center in Mianyang, Sichuan province, on May 23. Many students in quake-devastated Beichuan transferred to Mianyang after the May 12 temblor.

Liu Jie had planned on visiting the historic town of Lijiang in Yunnan province after taking the national college examination on Saturday.

But the May 12 quake in Sichuan province shattered that dream.

The authorities had to postpone the national exam in quake-hit regions in Sichuan to allow for relief and reconstruction work.

Close to 100,000 students in Sichuan have applied for this year's college entrance exam, the Ministry of Education has said.

As the exact date of the exam has not yet been announced, Liu and his classmates in Mianyang Nanshan Bilingual School are currently living - and studying - in great anxiety.

"We hope an exact date can be set as soon as possible so that we can make plans accordingly," the 19-year-old said with frustration.

Without a clear idea of what lay ahead, Liu said it was hard to concentrate on studying for the exam - considered a life-changing event for many high school graduates nationwide.

Liu was previously studying in a high school in Qingchuan, one of the worst-hit counties in northeast Sichuan. He had to transfer to a new school in Mianyang because it became impossible to have lessons in Qingchuan.

"The school building was badly damaged," he said.

All the students' textbooks and study materials were also left in Qingchuan during their evacuation. It made studying for the exam particularly trying for students like Liu.

Liu currently attends lessons in the five-story bilingual school in Mianyang, which includes six residential buildings that had survived the quake. But no one has dared to sleep in them for fear of aftershocks.