Special train carries students to their gaokao

$A senior student, his classmates and teacher pose for a photo at the Dayangshu town railway station before departure on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) A special train carrying more than 500 senior students arrived at Alihe, a town on the border of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Heilongjiang province, on Wednesday afternoon. Starting from Dayangshu town, the service has run each year since 2003, transporting students to their nearest test center for the national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao. Dayangshu lies in the southern part of Inner Mongolia\'s Greater Hinggan mountain range and is inhabited largely by people from the Oroqen, Daur and Ewenki ethnic groups. The town is too small for its own test center, so students travel to Alihe for the exam, which this year starts on Friday.$

A senior student, his classmates and teacher pose for a photo at the Dayangshu town railway station before departure on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

A special train carrying more than 500 senior students arrived at Alihe, a town on the border of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Heilongjiang province, on Wednesday afternoon.

Starting from Dayangshu town, the service has run each year since 2003, transporting students to their nearest test center for the national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao.

Dayangshu lies in the southern part of Inner Mongolia's Greater Hinggan mountain range and is inhabited largely by people from the Oroqen, Daur and Ewenki ethnic groups.

The town is too small for its own test center, so students travel to Alihe for the exam, which this year starts on Friday.

$A student shows her train ticket from Dayangshu to Alihe before departure on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn) Before the train ran, it took more than six hours to finish the journey through a combination of buses and trains. Now the direct, 135-kilometer line takes just 90 minutes. Even though a national highway built in 2010 gave students another option to get to Alihe, many still choose to take the train, considering it a rite of passage. “My parents planned to drive me to Alihe, but I refused,” said He Zhixin, an Oroqen student from Dayangshu\'s No 2 High School. “Maybe it will be the last time I can be together with my classmates and teachers. I hope to keep the journey as one of the most unforgettable memories of my life.\$

A student shows her train ticket from Dayangshu to Alihe before departure on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

Before the train ran, it took more than six hours to finish the journey through a combination of buses and trains. Now the direct, 135-kilometer line takes just 90 minutes.

Even though a national highway built in 2010 gave students another option to get to Alihe, many still choose to take the train, considering it a rite of passage.

“My parents planned to drive me to Alihe, but I refused,” said He Zhixin, an Oroqen student from Dayangshu's No 2 High School. “Maybe it will be the last time I can be together with my classmates and teachers. I hope to keep the journey as one of the most unforgettable memories of my life."

The route has carried about 30,000 students over the past 16 years, according to China Railway Harbin Group, which operates the service.

Students and teachers walk toward the train carriages on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

Students get on the train from Dayangshu to Alihe on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

Parents wave goodbye to their children who set off to Alihe for the national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao, on Wednesday. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

$The classic green train carriages have been decorated with red banners urging the students to \$

The classic green train carriages have been decorated with red banners urging the students to "fight for their dreams", along with pictures from their time at school. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)