Li Anmin, a retired teacher aged 70, attends this year's gaokao to understand teen psychology better. [Photo/Hua Shang Daily]

Retiree, 70, wants to understand teenaged psychology

A retired high school teacher, nicknamed "grandpa candidate" by the media, sat for gaokao in Gaoling town of Northwest China's Shaanxi province. He did it neither for fun, nor for his own dream, but for his consulting work.

Li Anmin, born in 1946, started a psychological consulting center for teenagers in his hometown in 2006 when he retired from his post in a high school.

Talking about his reason for attending gaokao, he said, "It's often said that there are too many problems in both Chinese education that give teenagers psychological problems. But we can only find the solution when we fully understand what they are learning and being tested in exams."

Li graduated from Shaanxi Normal University in 1982 and became a teacher in Gaoling ever since. He started counseling students in 1991.

As an older candidate, Li finds it hard to prepare for this national exam that decides the fate of most Chinese students. But he expressed that his attempts at gaokao will continue until he can find a solution to teenagers' psychological problems.