Class of '77 revels in memories of event that changed lives

"I was so excited, knowing that it was an opportunity to change my life." - Wang Huiyao, director of a think tank called the Center for China and Globalization, chairman of the China Global Talents Society and a consultant to the State Council

Maintaining momentum

During the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), many graduates of junior middle schools and high schools - at least 16 million according to official records - in cities were sent to villages as part of the "down to the countryside" movement.

In October 1977, when the news was announced that the exam would be resumed, Wang Huiyao had spent almost a year and a half as a farm laborer. He was a zhiqing, a "sent-down youth", in a village 30 kilometers from his hometown, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in China's southwestern region.

For Wang, then age 19, gaokao was a distant and irrelevant word. When the exam was suspended in 1966, it was replaced by a college admissions policy that relied solely on recommendation. That meant only workers, farmers and soldiers were selected to attend college, irrespective of academic achievement or lack of it.

Wang, born and raised in a large city, quickly found life difficult and disappointing: he "cohabited" with mice in a thatched cottage that lacked electricity, sanitation or hot water; worked from 5 am to 10 pm every day; walked barefoot along muddy lanes on rainy days; and drank water boiled with chilies to keep warm in winter.

"At the time, I couldn't understand why people across the world were trying to move from rural areas to cities for better lives, but our mobility went in totally the opposite direction," said Wang, who is now an adviser on policies related to spotting talent both at home and abroad.

"However, I had a strong feeling that such an abnormal situation wouldn't last long. I knew the gaokao would be revived sooner or later, but didn't know exactly when."

With that belief, Wang studied at night, reading all the books available to him and learning English by listening to radio programs.

When the announcement he had waited for finally arrived, it was earlier than anticipated. On the evening of Oct 12, Wang heard on the village broadcast system that the exam would be revived and held in mid-December.

"I was so excited, knowing that it was an opportunity to change my life," he said.

Having passed the exam, Wang studied English and American Literature at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. After graduation, he became an official at the Ministry of Commerce.

In 1984, he traveled to Canada to study for a master's and a doctorate in business administration, and then worked in senior positions for a number of large companies. In the mid-1990s, he returned to China and started several businesses.

Now, as director of a think tank called the Center for China and Globalization, chairman of the China Global Talents Society and a consultant to the State Council, China's Cabinet, Wang sees the 1977 revival of the exam as the starting point of all his rich, horizon-expanding experiences.

"If not for the gaokao that year, none of those things would have happened," he said.