Li said only 10 of his son's 60 classmates entered high school in Shanglin, while most others became migrant workers in developed coastal cities.
Li said both he and his son believe the gaokao is the best way to change their family's social status.
"After years of reform and educational progress, the odds to success for grassroots students are much higher. Though the gaokao is a very narrow path, rural children embrace it as the best chance to enjoy a better life in future," Li said.
Thousands of other students with similarly limited options as Li's son head to Maotanchang Town in east China's Anhui Province to undertake ruthless exam cramming every year.
Students at Maotanchang Middle School study nearly 16 hours each day without a singly day off for an entire year.
Reforms Underway
Though the gaokao will not disappear, new rules are being introduced for a better and more rounded appraisal of candidates' competence.
Top players such as Tsinghua and Peking University have been granted rights to place more weight on their independent recruitment tests -- those who pass the test enjoy bonus points towards enrollment.
Since last year, students have no longer been rewarded extra points for sports or artistic achievements, as loose supervision allowed room for this allowance to be manipulated by cheats.
Central authorities has rolled out reforms that include a multi-evaluation system relying on more than just academic scores.
They also unveiled plans to tip the scales more toward underprivileged groups by expanding enrollment quotas for students from less developed central and western parts of the country.
Guarantee of Fair Play
A tiny group of cheats threaten the integrity of the gaokao.
The Ministry of Education vowed vigorous efforts to ensure fairness in this year's university admission procedures.
Surrogate exam takers, usually undergraduate students, will pay a heavy price including dismissal from their current university.
2016 is also the first year when gaokao cheating will be treated as a criminal offense. An amendment to the Criminal Law, which took effect on Nov. 1, 2015, stipulates that those found guilty of organizing or facilitating cheating could be imprisoned for up to seven years.
Though many believe the exam-centered mindset does no good to youngsters' creativity, any radical change will spawn a public backlash as the gaokao is still widely regarded as the fairest means of selection.
"People are worried about abuse of power and back-door dealing if there is no clear standard for admission," said Chu Chaohui, a senior researcher with the National Institute of Education Sciences.
The gaokao is a very important channel of social mobility, and currently the most effective and fairest way to select talent, said Zhou Keda, head of the sociology department of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences.
"The system has been tested and improved over the past decades, so it is better to stick to it if a multi-evaluation cannot guarantee a strict and transparent process with supervision, otherwise many disadvantaged people may lose their chance to get enrolled," Zhou said.
