BEIJING, June 1 -- With the college entrance examination approaching, local high school graduates and their families have started booking hotel rooms, maids, and appointments with psychologists to help prepare for the important test.

Hotels and guest houses say business has been booming in recent days.

    The Shizeyuan Hotel, a three-star hotel in Yangpu District, set aside two floors of more than 20 rooms for students to review lessons during the exam period from June 7 to 9.

    More than 95 percent of the rooms have been booked by yesterday. The earliest reservation came at the beginning of May - more than a month before the exam date, hotel staff said.

    The Tianping Hotel near Shanghai Jiao Tong University says it has only two or three rooms left for June 7, a common situation at this time of year. Most of the guests are students who are going to sit the exam at schools nearby, according to the hotel's manager surnamed Li.

    "Every parent wants to have a quiet place for their child to review lessons and have a good rest. Some are willing to take a room for a whole day even if they only need the room for a noon break of a few hours," Li said.

    Many families have also started to hire domestic helpers to take care of the young examinees. Besides cooking homemade nutritious meals, these ayis also have to make sure the children are really concentrating on their studies, according to local domestic helper agencies.

    Chen Wenlin, a domestic helper in her late 40s, was told to mark down the number of phone calls made by the daughter of her employer every day.

    "It seemed insane to me," said Chen. "My employer thinks his daughter is dating some boy at school and couldn't focus on the exams."

    Chen needed to report to the employer every night on the girl's daily activities.

    "I think the girl hates me now," said Chen, who wanted to quit at first, but at last decided to stay as she needs the money.

    Business is good these days at local domestic service companies.

    "We sent out eight ayis in total since last week, all to families with examinees," said Xia Jun, general manager of the Shanghai Jialilai House Keeping Service Company.

    Psychologists said they received many students and their parents suffering from anxiety before the examination.

    "Some students and parents even have symptoms like rapid heart beats, sweating hands and feet and poor sleep," said Dr Shan Huaihai from Xuhui District Mental Health Center. "Some parents are even more worried than their children, since they should pretend to be relaxed in front of their kids and generate anxiety by themselves."

(Source: Shanghai Daily)