'All I knew was my life would be turned upside down, in a good way'

Luo Ren, 64, took the gaokao in 1977 and was admitted to Beijing Forestry University. After graduation, he became a researcher at Chongqing Academy of Forestry and was later chief scientist for the Chongqing Forestry Science Society, leading several major projects. He retired in 2013.

The happiest day of my life was in March 1978, the day I received an offer of a place at university.

It was a Sunday, and I was in a remote village in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province.