Graduates heed call to help underdeveloped areas

"In the past four years, I have witnessed the rapid development of southern Xinjiang with my own eyes. The local people have eradicated absolute poverty and they now live happy and prosperous lives," he said.

"I also live happily here in Xin­-jiang with my wife, who was my girlfriend in college. Although life is not always filled with sunshine and there are challenges ahead, I have grown tremendously in the past four years after getting hit by a car, run over by a bull and carried away by a flood. They are experiences I would not have had if I had become a university teacher."

Yu said he is not afraid of anything now, and he feels he is capable of dealing with any future challenges.

During his college days, he had the opportunity to visit many places in China. He knows that the country has developed rapidly in recent years, but said there are still many underdeveloped areas.

After being subjected to some racist comments when he visited the United States, he knows that his generation has the responsibility of building China into a stronger and more prosperous country, he said.

Today, Xinjiang is embracing great development opportunities and becoming a hub linking China with central, southern and western Asia and Europe, and is at the forefront of the BRI, he said.

Though many people questioned his decision to reject more lucrative jobs in big cities and move to Xin­-jiang, Yu said he has achieved his childhood dream of living in the land made famous by his heroes.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn