A dozen high school graduates in Shanghai, who will begin studying in foreign schools soon, recently filmed a documentary titled Why on Earth Do We Want to Go Abroad?

They want to tell the public the reasons for their choices and to be viewed objectively as students studying abroad, rather than as spoiled Chinese children squandering money and aiming to secure a place in the fierce job market at home with a foreign diploma.

"Making the video also helped us to clarify the reasons in our own minds," said He Jiaying, an 18-year-old in Shanghai who initiated the activity. She published her idea online in March and found her companions.