Sun Ao, a student from central China's Hunan Province, who has just started her freshman year at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, said packing her many belongings to take to school with her was a real headache.

She had to stuff her clothing, camera, MP4 player and some of her favorite spicy snacks into five large suitcases. After she finally finished the tough task, she and her parents headed for Shenyang, capital of northeastern China's Liaoning Province.

But when Sun's grandfather arrived at Hunan's First Normal College at the end of 1950s, all he had were two suits stuffed in a brief handbag. Since then, the average weight of freshman's luggage has increased 20-fold, Sun's father said.

The father said his daughter's grandfather never felt inferior to others since most of his peers also came from impoverished families.

In 1986, Sun's father also enrolled in a local normal university. Besides his father's encouragement, the government's higher subsidies for future teachers also influenced his decision to enroll in a normal university, which trains high school graduates to become teachers. He was carrying two bags on each end of a shoulder pole when he arrived on his own at the university.

At that time, freshman students were almost never escorted to colleges by their parents, because transportation expenses were a heavy burden for most Chinese families. But Sun's family decided to accompany her to the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, because they did not want to let her travel thousands of miles alone with five large suitcases.

The range of clothing and a collection of contemporary electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones reflect how much the living standards of the Chinese have improved over the decades. Sun's father said this was good, even though many education experts have warned that parents might be spoiling their kids with such indulgences.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 17, 2009)