Portrait of a post-95: an enterprising tech 'geek'

Bright, technologically-savvy and naturally collaborative, Shang Yiyang is a good representative of urban Chinese youth born after 1995 whose middle-class families are sending abroad for university.

Shang Yiyang, right, volunteers at the Paleozoological Museum of China in Beijing teaching children fossil repairing, March 29, 2015.[Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn]

"The iWatch is a must-have. I would just go for the 2,988 yuan ($399) edition because it's cheaper," he says with a laugh while squinting at his mother, financer of his various hobbies from fossil collecting to digital gadgets. "Next time you buy a smart watch, make sure you first sell the MOTO 360 you already have," his mother joked.

Shang, an 18-year-old Beijing native, will graduate from high school this summer. Four months later, he will enroll at the University of Connecticut in the United States to study computer science, having mastered Html, Java and other C-like languages.

"My idol is Lawrence 'Larry' Page," he said, referring to the American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who cofounded Google.

"He was a computer engineer and initiated a research project at first, then started his own company, and focused on strategic thinking, research and instructing. That is like the perfect way to spend my life. My dream job is to be a Google product manager. That would be so exciting," said Shang.

"If only your grades were good enough to get you an interview for Google!" his mother murmured.

"In my first year in high school, a group of Google engineers — we call them Googlers — gave a lecture at my class. They introduced Google Earth, and the algorithm of Google Search. I was fascinated," Shang said.The capital city, where many global IT companies have offices, allows teenagers like Shang to access their advanced technology.

After grasping Java and C-like languages and unsatisfied with the WeChat platform, and taught himself HTML5 last year to make his WeChat public account more visually appealing.

A quick glance at Shang's computer shows all the software he used to write programs - MyEclipse, Node.JS, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio. He has just started to learn Swift Programming, a programming language created by Apple for iOS and OS X development.

A digital native who grew up online, Shang is good at searching global sources for education and entertainment. He uses Hackdesign and W3School to learn programming, watches Ted speeches and takes courses on iTunes. He loves watching US-produced Marvel Cartoons, BBC programs likeTop GearandHouse of Cardsand searches for fun on YouTube.

An early smartphone user, he is familiar with the latest useful apps. His iPhone Plus has Acceleread, a paid application to help improve English reading, Teambition, where you can create multiple projects and invite friends/colleagues to cooperate, and Prezi, a non-linear presentation software.

He uses technology to collaborate with friends and strangers in ways that bewilder his parents.

Shang has about 30 chat groups on WeChat, almost all of which are for the projects he has been working on. Seeing himself as a man of action and cooperation, he and his friends have initiated a program to help high school students get internships from top-notch companies, including China's Internet giant Baidu (China) Co., Ltd, in order make their applications to US universities more appealing. He also has a project to take Chinese high school students to foreign universities on science camps. The medical school of the University of Cambridge in England has agreed to host them.

He helped promote independently researched and developed digital devices in schools and laboratories, volunteers at a paleozoological museum teaching children and also runs a WeChat public account introducing majors in foreign universities.

However, he wouldn't describe any of these initiatives as "entrepreneurship".

"Most of the things I'm working on are profitable. I look forward to achieving financial independence and I may be able to cover my living expenses in the United States. But I don't chase money right now. It's too early for me," he said.

Asked why, unlike many other excellent science students, he decided to head to the US instead of aiming for Peking University or Tsinghua University in Beijing, Shang explains that he was inspired by a trip to Santa Monica High School where he carried out ocean engineering and environment analysis experiments.

He was also attracted by the academic culture in the US, which he described as "free and open", citing the funny pranks played by students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology students on one another.

"My family may scrimp on many things but we'll shoulder the $55,000 (RMB340,800) annual tuition," said Shang. "Almost one tenth of students in my high school, High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University, went to foreign universities," he said.

According to a 2013 report from the US-based Institute of International Education, China continued to send more students to universities and colleges in the United States than any other nation. The number of Chinese students enrolled in US establishments of higher education in the 2012/13 academic year increased by a hefty 21.4 percent annually to more than 235,000.

Although he keeps busy and is doing excellently compared with his peers, his mother still believes there's one thing he can work on: pushing himself harder in his studies.

"When he was little, he won second prize in a national Olympic math competition. He came home happily to tell us the news, but his father and I scolded him. Why can't you win the first prize? Who cares about those who come second?" said his mother.

Shang is not too flustered about his mother's fixation on grades and competitions. "Grades are important in that they work like stepping stones to take me to a better university or company. But after that, grades don't count," he says.

Sitting beside him, his mother squints at him, frowning a little, but shortly after the lady who has always been understanding and supportive of her son smiled in a helpless, humorous way.

Asked if he is an ambitious person, Shang said no. "A Chinese saying goes, 'take one step, and look around before taking another'." So far, his strategy seems to be working.