Cao Xiangfan,38, failed the college entrance examination again - for the twelfth time in row since his first one in 1987, the Sanxiang City Express reported.

           
Cao Xiangfan looks out of the window in his tiny room before this year's exams took place. [Xinhua.net]

"I don't even need to show my admission card because everyone knows me -a regular in the college exams room," Cao joked before the exams took place.

"Actually I have got into the habit of taking college exams and I will try again next year," he said in reaction to his twelfth failure.

This year he got 505 points, below the level to be admitted to undergraduate colleges but above that to enter junior colleges. He gave up on junior colleges because they are far from his ideal.

Cao, the only child of six who could read in senior high school has been longing to go to college. "College is holy and so is taking the college exams," he said.

"I will keep trying until the age of 45, when it will become hopeless for me," Cao said.

Cao, a literature lover, turned down several publish houses, which asked him to write books. "I will be able to write until I am as old as 80 but entering college is different," he said.

"A university is a sign of nobility and taking the exam is an important ceremony for a person," Cao explained.

Cao works as a tutor to pay for his road to college. He and his wife now live in a tiny room of just 8 square meters with little furniture or appliances, waiting for him to succeed in his exams.