Lu Junli: Taobao entrepreneur

In the months leading up to her college graduation in 2010, Lu Junli spent most of her time away from campus, managing an online store that sold clothes she purchased from factories in Guangdong province.

Unlike most of her classmates at Hebei University in Baoding, Hebei province, who chose a regular career path, such as teaching or working for the government in their hometowns, Lu decided to move thousands of kilometers to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, to be near the factories that supply her online business.

"My parents and friends were strongly opposed to me counting on my online store for a living. Especially the older generation, who thought online shopping was a scam," Lu said.