88.6 percent of Chinese college graduates will be celebrating their graduation online this year. The commemorations will take various forms, including participating in graduation videos, watching online graduation ceremonies and purchasing academic costumes online, according to a recent survey.

Graduates of the Nantong Vocational College of Science and Technology, East China’s Jiangsu Province pose for a photo in front of a memory board, May 16. Photo by Feng Kaimin/People’s Daily Online

A survey of 2,505 fresh graduates by the social survey center of China Youth Daily in collaboration with wenjuan.com showed that 88.6 percent of college graduates this year will celebrate their graduation online.

The graduates surveyed said that they would commemorate their graduation mainly by participating in making graduation videos, watching online graduation ceremonies and purchasing academic costumes online.

Chen Miaoxin (pseudonym), a recent graduate of a university in northeast China's Jilin province, had planned to ask a group of friends to take graduation photos in every part of the school. 

"I used to think that everyone should find a job when they graduate, and without the pressure of study, we can have a good time at school, such as having dinner, setting up a flea market stall, and finally going to say goodbye to classmates and teachers," said Chen.

This year, due to the epidemic, Chen Miaoxin's school held and live-streamed a "cloud graduation" ceremony for fresh graduates, and the counsellor recorded a graduation message for everyone. 

Chen and her classmates also enthusiastically participated in various online graduation activities. "Recently, I attended students' graduation speeches, and put graduation photos and old campus photos on my social media."