Twin brothers get top marks in gaokao

With the release of gaokao results in Sichuan province on Saturday, twin brothers from Chengdu Shishi High School have come under the spotlight, thecover.cn reported.

The twin brothers -- Zhang Jiahao and Zhang Jiajie -- have both achieved remarkable results in this year's gaokao, also known as the national college entrance exam. Scoring 718 out of 750, Zhang Jiajie, the younger brother, got full marks in mathematics and 148 out of 150 in English. The elder brother Zhang Jiahao also scored an impressive 705.

To many people's surprise, the twins only spent about half of their high school time being in classes. The rest of the time they were busy preparing for national science competitions for high school students, which are an important evaluation criteria used in independent enrollment for universities.

Last year, the younger brother Zhang Jiajie won the silver medal in the National Information and Technology Competition after working hard for a year and a half. Not to be outdone, Zhang Jiahao also bagged a silver medal in the National Physics Competition.

Their extraordinary academic achievements have won them the favor from top-notch Chinese universities including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University.

The twins are not only great rivals in studies, but also terrific playmates. They love sports and playing basketball or table tennis has been their favorite pastime for quite a while. They also watch animation in their spare time.

Gaokao, the highly competitive national college entrance exam, has long been viewed as an important turning point in one's life in China. According to the Ministry of Education, 10.31 million people registered to sit the gaokao this year. The number of gaokao takers in Sichuan is estimated at about 650,000.