The real journey begins after the cap falls

For many in China's graduating class of 2025, the season brings reflection — on dreams, duty, and what success truly means.

As the final bells rang and cap-tossing celebrations swept university campuses across China and beyond, students bid farewell to their golden school days and prepared to embrace life's next chapter — one filled not only with challenges, but also with renewed purpose and hope.

Among them is Liu Xuan, 25, who recently completed his master's degree in software engineering at Peking University (PKU) and joined Microsoft Suzhou.

Liu's postgraduate years were defined by technical excellence. He completed internships that ranged from writing production-level code at a major tech company to developing investment strategies at a private equity firm.