Younger generation returning to realize personal dreams

Growing up in a family of ordinary workers in Northeast China, Song Xiaolei had a wild dream during her childhood.

"I wanted to be an attorney like the ones I saw in movies from Hong Kong and overseas," she recalled. During school holidays, she would watch movies in the family's small apartment after her parents had left for work on their bicycles.

While childhood dreams are dismissed by many as mere fantasy, Song managed to work step by step toward her own.

She attended Jilin University, where she studied law, before going to the United Kingdom to pursue a master's and a doctorate.

Four years ago, Song turned down offers from several British companies and returned to China. She works in the Legal and Compliance Department of China Resources, a State-owned conglomerate that owns several businesses across the country.

Though she is not an attorney, the 32-year-old is living the life she envisaged: she has a 120-square-meter apartment in the financial hub of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, along with a car and a decent job, just like she had seen in movies during her childhood.

Song is part of the younger generation of Chinese who, after studying overseas, are seeing their dreams come true in their home country.

Confident outlook

In 2014, an Ipsos MORI survey conducted across 20 countries found that Chinese people are the most optimistic about the future.

According to the survey, 78 percent of young people polled in China felt that their lives would be better than those of their parents, compared with 46 percent in India, 27 percent in South Korea, 26 percent in the United States and 22 percent in the United Kingdom.

Five years later, the trend has not changed. Xinhuanet conducted a similar survey in April. Of nearly 2,000 Chinese college students polled, more than 90 percent expressed confidence about the country's future.

Yu Shasha, 29, received three job offers during her five-year stay in South Korea, but she turned them down and returned to China.

"China is developing fast and a lot of industries are taking shape, providing many opportunities for people like me to realize their dreams," said the 29-year-old, who works in the entertainment sector.

"I have liked entertainment since I was young. I feel like I have seized a valuable opportunity in a rapidly developing industry and that my career prospects are more promising in China."

A different perspective

Pan Xiangyue, who studied at the Australian National University before returning to China earlier this year, said: "Our generation is different from our parents'. They lived in a period when our country was poor, and it was their efforts and dedication that helped to create the economic miracle."

Living in a wealthier environment, Pan said young people see things differently from their parents. "We grew up after reform and opening-up," the 25-year-old said. "We witnessed the takeoff of China's economy. The rapid development of our country gave us the confidence to have dreams and realize them."

Simon Mander, senior partner at AMVS Legal, a company that provides advice to people looking to live in Australia, told Xinhua that young Chinese tend to be more reluctant to move than older people.

Echoing Pan's view, he observed that social development is definitely an important factor.

"In the 1990s when I was in Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu province), I think the train ran about five hours into Shanghai. Whereas now you can live in Nanjing and work in Shanghai, and come back in the evening," he said.

In the past, Chinese people used to marvel at the convenience in Western countries, but now some young people would go so far as to say "We have a higher level of technology than Australia," Mander said.

China's connection with the rest of the world has been strengthened in the decades since the start of reform and opening-up, which has facilitated international business.

"China has made it easier for people to work and travel in the country," Mander said.

Speaking about her decision to return, Song said: "My path to fulfilling my dream overlapped with our nation's path to prosperity. This is the best route I could ever take."

Emotional attachment

In addition to greater convenience, both Song and Pan acknowledged that young Chinese are more emotionally attached to their homeland, and it is their dream to see China grow stronger.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China. Countless young people have voiced their love for the country and added the national flag to their social media profile pictures.

Capitalizing on this feeling, My People, My Country, a movie that recalls important moments in China during the past seven decades, has made 2.85 billion yuan ($405 million) on the Chinese mainland.

The film fared well even in Canberra, the Australian capital, a city of barely 400,000 people. During the premiere, the audience members stood as one and sang the film's title song.

Both Song and Pan said the outpouring of patriotism is voluntary, and they are not "brainwashed", as some media reports claim.

"The Western world should not underestimate Chinese people's ability to judge," Song said. "Many young Chinese have received a college education, and an increasing number of them have the chance to travel overseas."

Pan said: "When I was overseas, I found that news reports sometimes didn't reflect our real lives and mentality. For me, the Chinese dream reflects our pride and responsibility as Chinese. We are no longer an impoverished and weak nation that can be bullied, and our next step is to change the bias of other countries."

Qiang Lijing and Zhu Qing contributed to the story.