５６歳実業家、大学入試「高考」２７回目の挑戦　中国

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国で７日、大学入試「高考」が始まった。１３００万人近い高校生が受験する中、白髪頭の男性がひときわ目立っていた。今年で２７回目の受験に挑む梁実さん（５６）だ。（写真は中国・北京で、大学入試「高考」の初日に臨む受験生たち）
　梁さんは、決して頭が悪いわけではない。工場の単純労働者として働き始め、建設資材を扱う事業で成功して財を成した。だが、ずっと一つの夢を追ってきた。高考で高得点を取り、地元の一流校、四川大学で学ぶことだ。
　この数か月間は「修行僧のような生活」を送り、夜明けとともに起き、一日１２時間猛勉強してきた。
　ＡＦＰの取材に対し、「進学できなかったのが心残りだ」「大学に行って知識を身に付けたい」と話した。
　梁さんが初めて高考を受験したのは１９８３年、１６歳の時だった。この４０年で２６回挑戦してきたが、希望大学の合格ラインに届かなかった。
　ネットでは、売名行為だとやゆする声もある。
　「何のために？」と梁さん。「正気なら、注目を浴びるために何十年も高考を受け続ける人はいない」
　受験勉強中は酒もマージャンもやめる、と冗談めかして話す。
　２０１１年に高考を受験した息子からはいい顔をされていない。そして今は「無関心だ」という。
　試験が終わったら週末にはどんなお祝いをするのかという質問には、我慢していた楽しいことを再開すると答えた。
　「三日三晩、友人たちとマージャンをするつもりだ」 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/06/07-16:20）

Among the millions of fresh-faced high schoolers sitting China's dreaded gaokao college entrance exam on Wednesday, Liang Shi sticks out like a sore thumb -- a grey-haired, self-made millionaire stubbornly taking the test for the 27th time.
Liang, 56, is no fool. He worked his way up from a menial job on a factory floor to establishing his own successful construction materials business.
But one dream has always eluded him: getting a high enough score on the notoriously gruelling gaokao to study at the top-tier Sichuan University.
To compete with the nearly 13 million high school seniors taking the exam this year, Liang said he has been living the life of an ascetic monk for the past few months, rising just after dawn to furiously study textbooks for 12 hours a day.
It's an uncomfortable thought that I didn't manage to get a college education, Liang told AFP.
I really want to go to university and become an intellectual.
Over the past four decades, the Sichuan native has taken the gaokao 26 times but has consistently failed to get the required result to send him to his chosen university.
They call me 'the gaokao holdout', he said, proudly owning a mocking nickname given to him by local media.
For students, a good gaokao result can decide one's life trajectory, with a degree from an elite university conferring respect, status and better job opportunities.
Liang took the exam for the first time in 1983, when he was only 16.
He kept trying to boost his score for the next decade -? until he had to give up in 1992, as the test at that time was restricted to single people aged under 25.
As soon as those limits were lifted in 2001, Liang's desire for a prestigious college education was rekindled.
He has since taken the gaokao another 16 times, including every year since 2010 ?- even when harsh zero-Covid restrictions made taking the exam more challenging than normal.
Online, some have questioned whether his apparent obsession is merely a publicity stunt.
What for? Liang retorted.
No one in their right mind would spend decades taking the gaokao for a stunt.
He had to give up drinking and playing mahjong during the preparation period, he jokingly pointed out.
Liang's quest hasn't got much support from his son, who took the gaokao himself in 2011.
At first he didn't approve, and now, he's just indifferent, Liang said.
Asked how he would celebrate once the test is over this weekend, he said he was planning to make up for lost fun.
I'm going to play mahjong with my friends for three days and three nights.