After going through kindergarten, primary school, and secondary school together, three sisters in China recently made headlines for being accepted into the same prestigious university.

Hong Yilan, Hong Qilan, and Hong Shenglan, 19, were admitted into Fuzhou University after achieving good scores for the gaokao, China's standardised university entrance exam.

They were also rewarded with a RMB10,000 (S$1,835) scholarship each for their excellent academic performances, reported Chinese state media The Paper.

Victory together

Their mother, Hong Yashuang, said the girls have been very close since they were children.

She explained that put together, their names mean "being born together", but is also a homonym for another phrase that means "achieving victory together".

She added that the girls have been self-disciplined since a young age and would read books draw pictures, or do calligraphy at home while their parents were at work, according to the South China Morning Post.

Yilan, the eldest daughter, said that while they are academic rivals, they also accompany and help each other.

She added that they would emotionally support each other while preparing for the gaokao, in which they achieved scores of 602, 605, and 590 out of 750.

Moving ahead

The Paper reported that since the sisters learnt that they had been accepted into the university, they have been "very excited".

Yilan, Wilan, and Shenglan will be reading information management, international trade, and mineral processing respectively.

They have since began preparing for school and look forward to life in university, such as trying food in the cafeteria and making more friends.

Their mother said she hopes her daughters will "continue encouraging one another and study hard at university".

"What luck!" she said. "They were born together, grew up together, and share the closest relationship in the world."

Top image from The Paper