Students in a county in east China's Anhui Province on Wednesday resumed their national college entrance exam, or Gaokao, a day after the test was suspended because of heavy floods.

Candidates in Shexian County joined their counterparts elsewhere in the country in taking the foreign language test and a comprehensive exam, which includes different subjects according to students' major. But they'll have to sit the Chinese language and mathematics exams, initially scheduled for Tuesday, on Thursday instead.

Torrential rain in Shexian County on Tuesday, the first day of the Gaokao, caused streets to flood and interrupted traffic, forcing local authorities to push back the exam by a day.

Authorities upgraded the emergency response to the second level at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday because of the floods. By 10:00 a.m., only about 500 students out of the 2,207 registered for the exam had managed to reach their assigned test venues, hindered by waterlogged streets.

The local education department announced on Tuesday evening that the Ministry of Education had approved their request to reschedule the timetable and use backup test questions.

The annual national college entrance exam is usually considered the most important exam for Chinese high school graduates, influencing their choice of university and major. 

This year, the Gaokao was postponed by a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education authorities usually plan for any eventuality that could occur during the two-day nationwide exam, including readying backup test questions and emergency shelters, although their use is rare in the exam's history.

This year, backup exam rooms were set up for students who show symptoms similar to that of COVID-19.

(Cover image: A police offer stands outside a test venue in Shexian County, as students resume their exam, July 8, 2020. /CFP