Milestone for millennials

"I had to give up dancing in high school as the burden of studying was quite heavy. Now I want to pick up dancing again," she says.

As living conditions improved over the years, many post-00s' parents, a lot of whom were born in the 1970s and received a good education, sent their children to classes relating to the arts from early childhood.

And Zhao Fengjiao, a teacher at Ocean University of China, says: "Whether it's piano, dancing, violin, chess, electronic sports or ancient culture, the post-00s really know much more than us, post-80s."

But compared to the time spent on their hobbies and interests, "millennial babies" still pay more attention to their studies.

Sun Beibei, a counselor at Qingdao Agricultural University, receives many calls from freshmen who want to know what they need to prepare for before the semester begins.

"Whether they need to take painting classes or buy painting material are the most commonly asked questions if their major requires painting skills. They really care about their studies," says Sun.

Also, most of the post-00s interviewees say they will work toward a postgraduate degree.

Wang Leshan, a freshman at Ocean University of China, who is interested in science and technology, wants to major in photoelectric information science and engineering.

"After smartphones, what will be the next big thing? I think it will be VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality)," says Wang.

"Undergraduate courses are not enough for me to develop new VR and AR equipment, so I want to work hard and pursue a postgraduate degree."

According to a survey by Chinese internet giant Tencent in May, 89.4 percent of post-00s think that success depends on hard work.

Yang Jingpei, a freshman at Qingdao Agricultural University who comes from a family of farmers, aims to help his parents through his study of agricultural mechanization and automation.

"We, the post-00s, have had access to the internet at an early age, and are full of imagination. I believe I can make farmers' jobs easier," says Yang.

Despite the view that post-00s are irresponsible and selfish as most of them are the only child, Li Haoyu, a freshman at Qingdao Agricultural University, is proving to be an exception.

Li, who is one of the 300 government-supported students majoring in agricultural sciences in Shandong province, receives free tuition, accommodation and a subsidy of 4,000 yuan ($584) per year. And after graduation, he will serve in a county or village station applying agricultural techniques for at least five years.

"I want to go back and serve my hometown. In this way, I can ease my parents' financial burden and look after my mother as she is in poor health," he says.

Wang Leshan plans to teach in poverty-stricken areas in Northwest China's Gansu province.

"It sounds cool!" says Wang.

"Our senior schoolmates have been doing this for more than 10 years, and we, post-00s, should carry this on."