(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-24 14:08

Lu Wei, 12, a sixth-grader at Xinghai School in Chaoyang District, came to Beijing from Shanxi Province three years ago. He will have to go back to his hometown for middle school this September.

"I have to return and sit the university entry exam in my hometown. It will be too late if I only return home for high school. I would fail to catch up with the local teaching content as we have to score higher than Beijing locals for a university entry," Lu says

Under China's hukou (permanent residence registration system), rural children must return to their hometowns for university entrance exams.

Lu will be sad to leave his parents and will miss them. "Sometimes I wonder why I am so unlucky. The bottom score for Beijing locals is about 500 points to enter university while ours is about 600 points," he said.

Both Geng and Lu plan to attend boarding schools when they go home, a common choice for left-behind children.

Geng said that she felt no bitterness. "I feel happy and secure as long as I could stay with my parents."

Geng said she wanted to become a painter to present "beautiful things to the world." Lu said he wanted to be a scientist to invent new things for humankind, "like solar-powered cars to reduce pollution."

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