More than 12,000 undergraduate candidates applying to the art school of Beijing University of Technology were asked to sketch a portrait of President Xi Jinping. The test has attracted quite a lot of attention.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year speech via China Radio International, China National Radio and China Central Television, in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 31, 2014. [Photo / Xinhua]

The portrait, with a possible 200 points towards the final mark in the three-day examination that also consisted of coloring and literary sketches, required students to use pencils or charcoal only on the paper aligned vertically.

"I rubbed my eyes I saw the test. I just couldn't believe it at the first sight," said candidate Yang Li (pseudonym) said in an interview with Beijing Evening News. "But as President Xi appears so frequently in newspapers and on the TV news he was no stranger to me, so I could complete the portrait smoothly."

Yu Fang (pseudonym), told Beijing Evening News that as a fan of President Xi, she was excited to portray the State leader and she had to work hard to stop her hands from trembling.

The portraits will be judged from the aspects of structure, color and the use of shadows, one unnamed teacher said. "Many students have very good basic techniques and there are several high-quality works."