Though the early morning fog of this typical October morning has yet to lift, people are already leaving their homes. Wearing her red and white uniform, Xiao Chen walks to school on South Zhongguancun Boulevard. Inside Chen's schoolbag she's packed her science textbook, several notebooks, test preparation material, and a thermos. She walks briskly, her head and shoulders pressing forward. This posture helps her cope with the heavy load on her back.

Xiao Chen is a typical 3rd-year math student at Beijing Rendafu No. 3 Middle School.

After school, Xiao Chen waits for her father at the local McDonald's. After walking back with him, she returns to her desk, which is littered with science exams and composition drafts, leaving her just enough room for her French fries. The mid-term examination scores have just come out, and Xiao Chen did not score within the top 10, leaving her crestfallen. "I'm looking at what I did wrong," she says, "why I didn't get certain points."

Xiao Chen's mid-terms are monthly, but not scheduled at fixed times. Her October exam came after her 10-day National Holiday vacation, forcing her to spend her entire break studying. These monthly mid-terms are the official examinations taken by all students in Haidian District. After grades are released, her placement will be posted for her entire class, grade, and neighborhood to see.

"I really want to study, but I feel very constrained. The tests are very stressful, but nothing can be done about it." Tests are scheduled nearly every day. Rendafu Middle School tests third year students in literature on Mondays, physical education on Tuesdays, math on Wednesdays, science and athletic training on Thursdays, and English on Fridays.

Daily test-taking has become the norm. While scores are not published for the district, they are sometimes posted at school and used to determine one's status on the class roster.

During the final phase of mid-term examinations, the school also administers a few practice tests. Test preparation materials occupy only a small portion of the heavy load that Xiao Chen bears to school in her backpack each day.

Xiao Chen's father, often unable to pick his daughter up from school, says, "My main concern is that I wish I could help her carry her backpack home." Watching Xiao Chen reviewing her science tests at McDonald's reminds him of himself during his youth, though in an entirely different academic environment. After class, he would leave his backpack behind on a field of grass and play games with friends, catch cicadas and butterflies, gather strawberries, picking weeds, and reading picture-books. He sighs at the thought that his daughter will never experience the light-hearted childhood that she is entitled to.