Vocational education brews up big dreams

Xing Junjie, a second-year student at Guangzhou Vocational School of Tourism and Business, earned a spot in this month's national finals of a coffee-making competition by placing second in a southern region preliminary in Guangzhou last month.

The 16-year-old's longer-term ambition is to run a coffee shop of his own, using the knowledge and skills he has gained at the school in coffee making, tea making, bartending, Western-style baking, fruit carving, and hotel service and management.

"The technique is important but I think it is more important to be able to manage a team and all matters in a coffee shop," Xing said ahead of the national finals in Lincang, Yunnan province, from Dec 18-20.