It's summer, school's out and the parents are on leave. Time for a beach holiday, perhaps?

The Wangs did check into a hotel - not a seaside chalet, though - in downtown Beijing, and it's certainly no vacation.

The family comprises father Wang Junting, 52, a construction material dealer; mother Wu Xiuru, 49, a housewife; daughter Wang Ping, 25, a clerk; and son Wang Huawei, 19, who was taking the two-day National College Entrance Examination on Tuesday and yesterday.

They booked a five-bed suite for 320 yuan (US$38) per day to save time commuting to the exam site from their apartment in Tiantongyuan, a large suburban community in Beijing, which is a 40-minute car ride away.

Wang junior, 175 centimeters tall, dark skinned and wearing glasses, enjoys his family's accompany.

"Talking to them during exam time relaxes me," said Wang. "It releases some of the pressure and prevents me from thinking about the exams all the time."

On Monday afternoon, after the family checked into the hotel, Wang Huawei ate a heavy dinner at a nearby restaurant because he doesn't eat breakfast before big exams.

"Every minute in the exam is very precious. I don't want to waste time answering nature's call," Wang said.

He was nervous about the next day's morning test - the Chinese exam and his Achilles' heel.

This diary records the events of the first day of tests.

6:30 am: Wang wakes up after a troubled sleep, has a quick wash and hits the books within 10 minutes.

"Every student knows it is no use studying an hour before the exam. But if I don't read, I feel butterflies in my stomach."

8:20 am: Wang leaves for the exam centre, alone, refusing to let his family company him.

Unbeknown to him, his family sneak out and follow him.

"We wanted to see him enter the exam centre safely. I and my friend will pray for my son in church," said Wu, a pious Christian.

At the gate, Wang hugs his teacher Yu Dongyun, who has taught him for three years and is like a mother to him.

9-11:30 am: The Wangs, like hundreds of parents and teachers waiting outside the exam centre, sit on the sidewalk with Yu.

Their conversation, perhaps inevitably, focuses on Wang Huawei, an immigrant teenager from Sanhe in Hebei Province before he enrolled in the No 80 Middle School, one of the top schools in the capital.

The versatile young man, a keen fan of rock music and football, is Yu's favourite student. Yu had made Wang the head of her class and he was one of the five students she recommended this year to become a Communist Party member.

Living in the school's dormitory, Wang and his classmates used to get up at 6:30 am and stay up until 11 pm every day, spending all day in classes or burrowed in books.

11:30 am: Wang Huawei comes out of the exam centre and joins his parents at a restaurant where his father ordered lunch an hour earlier.

Concerned that dishes with meat would be too greasy on a hot day, Wang senior has ordered four vegetable dishes and a soup.

Wu is relieved to know that her son performed well in the Chinese examination; and her husband decided to go back to work after lunch to attend to important business.

"Once the Chinese test went smoothly, I was not worried about the other three tests - Maths, Comprehensive Courses and English," Wang Huawei says.

"Instead of feeling nervous, I was excited during the exam, and my mind was racing," he adds.

1 pm: Wang, with his mother and sister, go back to the hotel where he takes a nap for half an hour and watches TV until 2:30 pm, before going back for the afternoon test.

3-5 pm: Wu and her daughter take a walk around the neighbourhood and go shopping for Wang's favourite snacks and drinks.

5 pm: The family wait expectantly at the gates of the exam centre. When Wu hears a student say the test was difficult, she frowns and clutches her cross.

"Don't worry," says Wu's daughter. "Here he comes."

Wu is glad to see her son and greets him with a big smile and a hug.

6 pm: The family has dinner at a noodle restaurant and go back to the hotel.

7:30 pm: Wang watches a TV program for a while but it doesn't hold his attention.

8:30 pm: He picks up his books, preparing for the next day's tests.

11:00 pm: He takes a bath and prepares for bed.

Midnight: Bedtime for Wang.

When asked what he will do after the exam, Wang has a quick answer: "Play computer games!"

He has applied to the law school of the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, partly because his father believes it will help him find a job more easily after graduation.

Wang is one of 8.76 million students sitting the national exam nationwide this year.

(China Daily June 9, 2005)