Faced with the upcoming national college entrance examination, students of China's post-'90s generation attach great importance to their psychological health and are turning to psychological counseling to release the pressure.

The number of exam candidates and their parents who sought advice from the psychological department of Chongqing Xinqiao Hospital in the last three months increased 30 percent compared with the same period in previous years.

Dai Guangming, a psychological consultant at the hospital, said the exam candidates value psychological health very much. Many of them came to the hospital on their own or accompanied by their parents to seek advice from psychiatrists on how to release pressure from the upcoming national college entrance examination.

Zhou Ping came to the psychological department for advice with his mother on June 2. As an exam candidate, Zhou attends a key senior high school in Banan District in Chongqing. His mother started to prepare him for the national college entrance examination using a health guide she found soon after the Spring Festival. Since then, Zhou has been required to have two eggs, a glass of milk and various nutrient oral liquids for breakfast, and to sleep at fixed hours every day as suggested by the health guide.

Zhou found some negative comments on the Internet about nutrient oral liquids. But he had to do as his mother asked. After scores on his last two mock exams turned out lower than on previous practices, he finally was able to persuade his mother to visit a psychological consultant about stress management for both of them.

Dai said China's post-'90s generation is more independent and strong-minded than previous generations, and it values science very much.

Dai said parents shouldn't interfere too much in their children's lives. "The best way is to achieve better communication between parents and their children," he said. "Parents can guide their children better when they fully understand them."

(China.org.cn, June 5, 2009)