Popularity of 1-year sabbatical break is growing worldwide

What they say

We should not attach too much meaning to gap years. It's just a way to relax, like shopping or playing cards, or any other form of entertainment. For me, a gap year is not about relocating or traveling to somewhere else. It's more about changing your life pattern and pace of life.

Huang Huanhuan, 31, a self-employed English tutor and translator in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, who took his first gap year in 2012

A gap year is a kind of social practice. You can have internships, participate in the work of nongovernment organizations, try other possibilities and have more exposure off campus. It grants you the time and opportunities to think about the future and find out what you want to do.

David Zhu, 27, a Chinese Canadian who undertook a gap year in Beijing in 2010, when he was an undergraduate of Colombia University in New York

Many of the things I did during my gap year seemed to be helping and healing others. In fact, I was the one that was helped and healed.

Liao Xiaohan, 24, a passionate proponent of gap years who is working to boost people's knowledge of the practice in China

A gap year is of great value to the whole of Chinese society. China is a fast-developing country and people are eager for success and anxious about lagging behind. That's where many social conflicts arise. Against such a backdrop, I believe if more people take gap years, then they will learn more about slowing down and not hurrying, and society will be more harmonious.

Gu Zhengzheng, director of the public promotion department of the Gap Year Foundation, a program administered by China Youth Development Foundation to help young people in China with their gap year plans.