Editor's note:

Huge job-hunting pressure, many requirements for positions, and the desire to pursue a higher degree have pushed more people into the competition of post-graduate entrance exam in 2011. The number of applications reached a record high: 1.5 million. During preparations for the big exam, many fought long battles and have stories of tears and laughter. Chinadaily.com.cn picked several to share with you.

A couple is among students gathered in front of a library, ready to race for a seat. As soon as the library opens, the girl slips while trying to rush inside, and shouts to her boyfriend: "Go on without me. Hurry for a seat." Securing a seat in a study room is a daily chore for many preparing for the national post-graduate entrance exam, especially when their need to study in a quiet academic atmosphere clashes with many others busy with their own course exams. The scarcity of space for studying is shown in a popular short story told on the Internet. [Photo/newscartoon.com.cn]

260,000 apply for master's in Beijing schools

Among the 1.5 million people who will take the post-graduate entrance exam in 2011, 260,000 are applying to universities in Beijing, Beijing News reported.

Of those, 22,440 people are applying to Peking University. [Full story]

Hotel rooms booked near exam schools

During the weekends of the post-graduate entrance exam, most people are willing to live in a hotel near the schools where they are going to take the exam, but in Jinan, Shandong province, it is very hard to book a room, Qilu Evening News reported. [Full story]

Studying hard in basement room

Huang Jing, a young woman who is preparing for her post-graduate entrance exam, lives in a basement room of three square meters, sina.com.cn reported.

Some hotels said that all the rooms are full during the exam period. Prices for the rooms rise, or even double the normal rate. [Full story]

A post on the back of the chair reads, "This place has been reserved (by the one who wrote the post) for preparation of 2011 post-graduate exam. Do not rebook it." Many classrooms have been occupied by those students at Qingdao University, April 8, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

A student studies at a classroom where posts claim these seats have been reserved at Qingdao University, April 8, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

A student reads book outside a venue holding the 2011 postgraduate entrance exam in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province, Jan 15, 2011. The exam kicks off on Saturday and the number of applications reached 1.51 million this year. [Photo/Xinhua]

A student studies in a corridor of Shandong Normal University in Jinan, East China’s Shandong province, Jan 13, 2011. Classrooms have been fully packed with the advent of the annual exam for postgraduate schools, driving some students to sit outside classrooms.[Photo/CFP]

A student occupies a seat to revise for the post-graduate entrance exam, at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing, Jan 12, 2011. [Photo/China Daily]