Passion vs perseverance

"Whatever the inspiration, you've got to dream your dream," says Sun Jian (pictured), a 25-year-old graduate student of Peking University. The city planning major believes he has a yen for the arts even though he is a student of science.

Indeed, he does. As director of the musical drama Top-Ranking University vs. Public Bathroom, Sun, together with other students from Peking University, has wowed Chinese theater directors and writers since the drama's debut at the 5th Chinese College Students' Drama Festival in 2005. The popular play will make a comeback to a bigger audience during the May Day holiday at Beijing's PLA Opera House.

With more than 20 of the original songs in Chinese and English, the play centers on the public bathroom of a Chinese university.