For law professor Hou Xinyi, the designation of Constitution Day in 2014 was the culmination of his years of efforts. Ever since Hou became a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 2008, he had made proposals to designate a constitution festival in the country.

Han Deyun started his law career in 1994, the year when China began to allow private law firms to operate, after quitting his teaching job at a law university in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality. "Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy, I had the chance to become a professional lawyer," said Han.

Since 2003, Qin's law office has helped some 20,000 farmer-turned workers recover more than 200 million yuan ($32 million) in delayed payments. "Someone called me 'silly' after learning I spend so much time and money helping strangers reclaim their salary," said Qin. "But pursuing justice is my responsibility as a lawyer. The value I realize cannot be measured by cash".

Promoting rule of law is not always best left to the judiciary, at least not in the case of the wrongly-executed Hugjiltu. Tang Ji, the 58-year-old Xinhua reporter behind the reverse of his conviction, did nine years' tireless and largely unappreciated work to help restore Hugjiltu’s reputation.

Just like what Guo Xingli said in his previous speech titled "My dream, my road", promoting the rule of law in remote villages is more than a job for him but a lifetime pursuit. Having been working as a grassroots judge in Kaifeng town, Jian'ge county of Sichuan province for 24 years, Guo is dubbed "pack basket judge" by local people for his decades-long image of carrying pack baskets to villagers’ homes to handle cases.