(File photo/Xinhua)

Some 9.4 million Chinese students on June 7 began the national college entrance examination, or gaokao, amid best wishes from the country.

Central China's Henan province has the largest number of gaokao examinees, with a total of 863,000 this year, an increase of 43,000 compared with in 2016, Henan Daily reported. Some 3.72 million students are expected to enroll in an undergraduate degree program following the examination, an increase of nearly 10,000 from 2016, the Global Times reported.

The gaokao is treated as one of the most important milestones in Chinese society, as most citizens believe that higher education is the only path to a good career and life. Not only do the families of examinees get nervous in the run-up to the test, wide swaths of society move to accommodate the seminal event around the country.

Streets surrounding exam centers are cordoned off to keep the environs quiet. Police cars stand by to pick up students who need help, as the first day of the exam every year begins with a handful of students showing up in the wrong location or getting caught in rush hour traffic.

The gaokao begins on June 7 across China, and ends in most regions on June 8. Some parts of the country have one more day of the test on June 9.