Instead of going the typical route and opting for high-paying jobs with excellent prospects, many new university graduates in China are deciding to rough it with positions in small towns hit hard by the May 12 earthquake.

Wen Li, an electronics major at Beijing's elite Peking University, was one of them. He chucked his offer with a foreign company based in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and instead headed for Mianzhu, one of the worst-hit quake areas.

Three other undergraduates from Renmin University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and Southwest Jiaotong University, all first-class institutes, joined him.

They will work at the Dongfang Steam Turbine Works, a Mianzhu factory that lost nearly 700 workers in the quake. Liu Zhiqian, publicity official with the factory, said another 1,000 workers were injured, about a tenth of the total staff.

"We all went to high school in Mianzhu," Wen said. "Our decision was not just a spur of the moment. We thought about it for quite a long time. I know that I have to bear the consequences of my decision. Since we choose to work there, we are bound to work hard."

Long before graduation time, normally in late June, these "elite" students had secured employment contracts with decent employers. Breaching such agreements would usually cost either party a fine equal to one month's salary.

Their employers-to-be showed understanding and let them go without a fine.

Wen currently had no idea how much he would get paid at Dongfang, but he remained optimistic. "They have dormitories and a canteen. That's enough for me."

Liu said the factory welcomed the students. "This reflects changes in their world value. They used to choose well-paid jobs in coastal places only. It proves they are now willing to make sacrifices."

These young people were hoping to help the quake areas through their own efforts.

Wang Bin, a postgraduate student at Shaanxi Province's top Xi'an Jiaotong University, dumped his job in Hangzhou, capital of the prosperous coastal Zhejiang Province. He then applied to work at the Dongfang Steam Turbine Works too.

"The quake-affected areas need people like us. I am ready to fit into the local society and be a Sichuan resident," he said.

Cao Lili, another undergraduate from Nankai University of Tianjin Municipality, persuaded her employer to give her one year off for volunteer work in the relatively underdeveloped areas hit by the quake.

"I was moved by those volunteers in relief work and would like to follow them," she said.

Other grads chose jobs in quake areas despite opposition from their family and friends.

Bai Ruirui, a University of Science and Technology Beijing undergraduate, had received an offer from a state-owned company in Deyang, one of the worst hit cities, before the earthquake.

But his parents opposed him taking the job, worrying about the bad conditions in the quake zone. "I talked again and again with them, convincing them that I will be all right and the rehabilitation will need my skills," he said.

Yang Peizhi, a postgraduate from Tianjin, had hesitated at taking a job at Dongfang Electric based in Sichuan.

He was on the train to attend the interview with the company when the quake hit.

"I saw collapsed houses, injured people and cracked roads. I could not forget those eyes that sought help. That's why I finally said yes to the company."

Statistics tell more

This year, more than 200 graduates from Tsinghua University, one of the country's best schools, are to work in the quake-affected Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, as well as Chongqing Municipality, China Youth Daily reports.

Another 172 from Tianjin University, 98 from Nankai University in Tianjin and about 100 graduates from Xi'an's Jiaotong University were going to do the same.

Dongfang Steam Turbine Works, alone, will have about 20 grads while the others are scattered in hospitals and companies in the quake area.

Many young people, mostly those born after 1980, have surprised the society with their sense of responsibility and passion to help the quake-affected people. They participated and even initiated donation campaigns and formed a major force among the 200,000 volunteers working for quake relief.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)