Tears, fears and a burning desire to succeed

Wu Wanshan, from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, is one of 38,000 students who applied to enroll at the Beijing Film Academy, one of the cradles of China's performing arts, this year.

Having finished the preliminary test at the academy on a cold, windy February morning, the 17-year-old felt that she had acquitted herself well, but remained noncommittal.

"I don't want to think about the result right now because I still have another seven or eight tests at different performing arts schools," she said. "I don't want to ruin my confidence by thinking about possible failure."