It's been 135 years since China first sent a group of 12-to-15-year-old boys to study from the west, but there were only 30 of humble origin in that group because the powerful and rich in the Middle Kingdom were still doubtful about this aggressive and tentative project, believing there really isn't much to learn after all.

Very few still have that doubt, and most people now believe there are a lot to learn in other countries. Meanwhile, the project also came at a larger scale: Statistics show that 1.067 million students chose to study outside of China during a 28-year time span from 1978 to the end of 2006, among them more than 70% studied overseas after 2000.

The Qing Government sent 30 students to study in the US on August 11, 1872. [People Daily]

47.5% students majored in humanities and social sciences, which is slightly higher than the percentage of students who took engineering and technology, 44.7%. Natural and medical sciences took up 4.5% and 2.4% respectively, while students studied agriculture only accounted for 0.47%.

According to Shao Wei, Vice Director of Oversea Study Center in the Ministry of Education, China is seeing a second wave of students going abroad after the first one in the early 1980s when the country first launched its reform and open-up policy.

Shao said the most recent increase of students studying abroad was powered by better income of Chinese families, while Chinese society also encourages innovation, giving another incentive for many to learn new things in new countries. Besides, the number of government-sponsored students also experienced a boost. In 2006, the government sent 7,000 students to see the world, and the average per year is only 3,000.

With more students getting out of the country, the number of those coming back to China also sees an increase. Since the Ministry of Education began to provide the oversea diploma authentication service in 1991, it has recognized 71,688 certificates. 42,000 people who studied abroad decided to come back to China in 2006, and the number was only 20,000 in 2003. The growth of 22,000 more students coming back is bigger than that of those going out of the country.

Despite the fact that the US is still the largest destination for oversea Chinese students, those returning China are mainly from Britain, Japan, Russia, and Australia.

Shao also warned that currently there are too many people studying the hot majors like management and IT in foreign countries, but China lacks professional talents in other areas like agriculture, forestry, geology, and etc in the future.

However, many believe their studies abroad give them more than the knowledge in a specific major. "I think my perspectives have changed a lot, and that is going to influence the rest of my life. I am more open to different behaviors and more globalized in general," said Lei Lei, who returned China last September after acquiring her master degree in the UK.