'student Soldiers' Swap University For Uniforms

A growing number of scholars are suspending their studies to join the People's Liberation Army

Chen Yu, a straight-A student and a descendant of a New Fourth Army soldier who was killed during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), had two childhood dreams. His first was to attend China's best college. His second, to join an elite unit of the People's Liberation Army.

He fulfilled both after becoming a student at Tsinghua University in Beijing.