WHILE most Chinese schools traditionally favor a rigid exam-focused curriculum, those in Hangzhou are offering more options to students, where Chinese and math are joined by car mechanics and tea ceremony in gaining credits. Xu Wenwen tests it.

It's 2:30pm, the second class in the afternoon. At Hangzhou High School, some students are playing chess, some are practicing a new music piece for their band, while others are learning watercolor painting.

Around the same time in another local high school, several students are in a cooking class, others are learning about the tea ceremony, while some are heading to a workshop to practice auto repair.

That is a rare scene. Usually in Chinese high schools, students study "serious" subjects like math and languages throughout the day - plus more studying in evenings.

But since last September, as part of a curriculum reform program, first grade students of high schools in Zhejiang Province have been given more freedom picking their courses.

Student choices count up to one third of all credits, and those courses can include art, sports and even life skills.

"It's time to take the step," says Fang Hongfeng, the deputy chief of basic education division of Department of Education of Zhejiang Province, and an expert in the panel taking charge of high school curriculum reform program in the province.

"Exam-oriented education tends to assume students should be good at every aspect, which is unrealistic," he says.

In the Chinese mainland, examination-oriented education in high school focuses on students studying for the annual college entrance examination - commonly known as gaokao.

Mandatory subjects include Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language - usually English. The other six standard subjects are three sciences and three humanities.

As higher marks help win a place at a more prestigious university, the gaokao has long been at the center of education.

But the situation is now changing, although slowly.

In 2004, the Ministry of Education began high school curriculum reform to gradually replace "examination-oriented education" with "quality-oriented education."

Although the gaokao system itself is little altered, the reforms have seen new textbooks introduced and choices from other subjects introduced for the first time.

To date, the program has been implemented at many places on the Chinese mainland. Zhejiang Province introduced the reform in 2006 and last year updated the program - a large step ahead of its peers.

The update reduces the compulsory subject credits from 116 to 96, and raises the credits from student-selected courses from 28 to 48 - creating a 2:1 ratio.

In comparison, most other areas in the country still insist on 116 credits from compulsory courses, with just 28 assigned to those chosen by students.

The local government divides student-selected options into four categories: knowledge expanding; occupational skills; hobbies and interests; and social practice.

Knowledge expanding courses build on subjects students are already interested in; occupational skills can include practical skills such as car mechanics and cooking; hobbies and interests include science, arts and sports; while social practice can be a small research project or community service.

"Under the current gaokao system, students prefer to maximize their gaokao mark, more than picking up a major they like or are suited to," says Fang.

For instance, if a student gets a mark of 605, they might pick a major requiring 604 or 603, so as not to "waste" the mark - even if the subject may not be their preferred choice.

"A vital function of having students choose courses is to help students understand what kind of job they like and are suited to," Fang explains.

On and off campus

At Hangzhou High School this semester there are more than 40 optional courses. Hobbies and interests options include guitar, chess and digital music software classes, while occupational skills classes include electronic control technology, computer-aided design and manufacturing.

Several classes are given by teachers from local universities or vocational schools in areas such as the tea ceremony and career development.

Two astronomy courses are also listed, and most students on the courses are members of the school's astronomy society. They not only learn at classrooms, but at observatories on and off campus.

"Before, astronomy was a hobby for students' spare time, but now it's a serious subject in class," says the teacher on the astronomy course Chu Wangwei.

Music teacher Zhu Haiqi agrees that there has been a big shift.

"Previously, playing music or practicing in a band was a thing for after school, more like a social activity. Now it's equal to a Chinese or math class."

Last semester, Zhu's students recorded an EP, wrote songs and learned new instruments. Now the teacher is planning for them to play music around the city as volunteers.

"The old way of education can't go far," says Chen Weinong, vice principal of Hangzhou High School, who takes charge of the curriculum reform there.

"High schools should not only teach students, but help teenagers form their values, and understand the world's depth and width," he adds.

Different schools develop their own courses. Lianshi High School, in Huzhou city, in Zhejiang, sets many vocational courses because most of its graduates study in vocational college; and Hangzhou No. 7 Middle School, an art school, offers numerous art classes.

And in Xuejun Middle School, a key high school in the city, cooking classes were added last semester, with the school chartering a bus to shuttle students to a vocational school.

"A teenager needs to know life skills like cooking, yet in many cities in the country, kids do not learn these things," says Xuejun Middle School Principal Chen Liqun.

"Reform should be a real act, not something pretending," he adds.

This semester, the school conducted a survey among students about what subjects they wanted and then set 50 courses, including some taught by university lecturers.

Jessye Weir from England teaches in Xuejun Middle School and also gives an optional course - English theater performance, which makes students work in a different way, she explains.

"In an ordinary English class, usually students do not speak but just listen to me. But in a performance class, which is not so teacher-led, they need to communicate and open their minds," she says.

"So the course provides an opportunity for students to be away from their desks and express themselves in a positive way," she adds.