Students gain lessons in life from martial mindsets

Wang Hang, 28, joined the People's Liberation Army in 2009, when he was a second-year student at Fudan University in Shanghai.

The son of a PLA Air Force officer had dreamed of emulating his father, but his decision to suspend his studies and enlist was met with incomprehension.

"People said a young man like me - a triple-A student at high school who played the piano and was studying at one of the top universities - would definitely secure a good job after graduation. They said enlisting was a waste of my time, but I didn't think so," he recalled.